Monday Night Raw - April 3rd 1995

• Coming off (a not very good) Wrestlemania, Raw opens with a recap of the event narrated by Vince McMahon. He makes it sound better than it was. The key moments he hit are that Diesel retained the title over Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart and Yokozuna won the Tag Team titles and Lawrence Taylor beat Bam Bam Bigelow. Commentary duties tonight are handled by Vince and Jim Cornette.
• Raw kicks off with Sparkplug Bob Holly in singles action against Hakushi. The 1-2-3 Kid, Holly’s former Tag Team Championship partner, does come out and joins him at ringside which seems to be a surprise to Vince even though it makes sense to me. Vince and Cornette talk about Bret Hart a lot in relation to Hakushi. Are they feuding? Basically Jerry Lawler keeps calling Bret an anti-Japanese racist and that seems to be enough to tie him to Hakushi. I think that's probably all we’re getting to explain in 1995. There was quite a lot happening in this match! With the 1-2-3 Kid at ringside, new Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna also came down to ringside. There was an altercation between Owen and the Kid on the outside and the match all breaks down from there. Yoko trips Holly, Hakushi follows up with a senton on the mat to pick up the victory. Owen and Yoko leave the Kid and Holly laid out at ringside. 
• In the final Wrestlemania report, Jim Ross recaps the show. They showed footage from the post-show press conference where Bam Bam Bigelow effectively turned babyface. He was quiet, humble and emotional as he says he now has no idea where he stands with the Million Dollar Corporation. JR hammers home the change in attitude too, calling him a great athlete. The other big news is that while Undertaker beat King Kong Bundy, his urn was once again stolen this time by Kama. So Undertaker STILL isn’t done with Ted Dibiase’s goon squad. 

• Vince McMahon in the ring welcomes WWF Champion Diesel. Big Daddy Cool actually does himself a disservice and says that if it wasn’t for Sid’s botched interference, he might have lost the title. He offers Shawn Michaels a rematch for the gold. Vince brings up Diesel and Shawn’s former friendship and the champion wishes Shawn his best and tells him that Sid is out for himself and doesn’t have HBK’s best interests at heart. He says that when they do have their rematch he should leave his new bodyguard at home. 

• At Wrestlemania, Lex Lugar and British Bulldog debuted their team as the Allied Powers and were winners against the Blu Brothers. They have their second outing as a team here and have no issues with Well Dunne and win with the Hart Attack tag team finisher, which is an interesting thing for them to steal.
• Bull Nakano defends the Women’s Championship against Alundra Blayze. This was supposed to happen at Wrestlemania and it’s a shame it didn’t as it would have improved the show. This was really good and after a brawl on the outside and a German suplex on the floor, a second German suplex in the ring allowed Alundra to regain the Women’s title. This would have been the best match on the show if they had done it at Wrestlemania. Alundra’s celebration is cut short by a mystery assailant who McMahon and Cornette say is bigger than Bull Nakano! She beats the new champion up until being held back by referees as Vince asks if they’re even still on the air or if we went to commercial. She has face paint and appears to be another Japanese import. More on her very soon no doubt. 

• The newly heel Men on a Mission face two jobbers. Mabel and Mo are a lot more vicious and have both dyed what little hair they had jet black to match their new attitude. Mabel wins it for MOM with a big splash on the mat.
• There’s a commercial for the next PPV which is the very first In Your House. I’ll talk a lot more about the launch of this PPV series when we get to it but the big selling point of this first show is a contest where a WWF fan will actually win a real life house. 

• In the second Vince interview segment of the night, he brings out the other half of the Wrestlemania main event in Shawn Michaels. HBK looks full of smiles despite his loss last night but Sid looks furiously angry. Shawn mentions that he and Diesel were friends and that distracted him in their match (is that a babyface turn?) and accepts the offer of a rematch. He says he doesn’t need a body guard and says Sid has the night off. The big man flips and screams at Shawn that he doesn’t respect him and that he needs him and the show goes to a commercial break while they’re mid-argument. Returning from the break, Shawn is laid out in the middle of the ring and Diesel has run down to chase off Sid and defend Michaels! What has happened? Jim Cornette screams about Sid snapping and laying out Shawn and the show ends there. Why was it edited this way? Well to create a bit of drama at the end of the show, and to give everyone a reason to tune in next time and see what happened during that commercial break.

• This was a good episode of Raw and there’s a definite shift in booking style with only one jobber-squash match this week. Long may that continue.

Monday Night Raw - April 10th 1995

• As I just promised, the big selling point of this week’s Raw is the unseen footage of Sid’s attack last week as well as a big six man tag team match. This week’s commentary duo is Vince and Jerry Lawler (as I assume Cornette is busy being in Yoko and Owen’s corner) but this was all filmed last week as Vince and King are in front of a green screen. 

• In the opener, this shift away from jobber squashes continues with Adam Bomb vs. Tatanka - actual superstar vs. superstar matches! Vince says that Adam Bomb is especially popular with the Special Olympians. Now I see what he’s saying and the WWF did have a partnership with the event but that doesn’t sound like a compliment does it? This is a back and forth match and when they brawl to the outside, it ends via double countout. 
• The Headshrinkers take on a pair of jobbers. Vince and Lawler spend the match talking about the Blu Brothers, who apparently Fatu and Sionne are now feuding with.
• There’s a video promoting the arrival of Jean Pierre-Lafitte. He’s a pirate. He’s also former Quebeccer Pierre who, at the time, had a gimmick where he couldn’t speak English but seems to have no issues now. 

• The special unseen footage from last week’s Raw takes centre stage. Shawn seems to have accidentally insulted his bodyguard Sid who snapped - something all the commentators speculated would happen at any moment from the moment he arrived - and drilled Michaels with three powerbombs until Diesel finally ran down to stop the beating. Quite a long segment, and the story is that Diesel and Michaels’ would appear to be friends again. 

• Kama (with Ted Dibiase) takes on Scott Taylor. Kama is wearing a big necklace made of little gold links around his neck. That’s the Undertaker’s urn which he’s melted down and reshaped. Kama smashes the future Scotty 2 Hotty with a big punch to the chest. 

• There’s a recap of the attack on Alundra Blayze last week, moments after she regained the women’s title. Vince says that the woman was “at the time unknown” but doesn’t tell us her name. Alundra suffered a broken nose during the attack and so will be MIA for a little while sadly.
• Bret Hart, Bob Holly and the 1-2-3 Kid battle Owen Hart, Yokozuna and Hakushi. Between Owen and Yoko winning the belts and the new team of Lugar and Bulldog, you can really see Vince putting effort into the tag team division. I’ll talk about that at In Your House in more detail. This is a good match and the crowd are red hot, chanting loudly for Bret throughout. The finish comes out of nowhere after a hot tag, Bob Holly taking Owen Hart down with a roll up to pick up the win for his team! That surely makes Holly and the Kid the number one contenders. 

• The show ends with a heavy sell for the Wrestlemania XI replay on PPV, as well as plugs for Duckman, which I guess was on the USA Network after Raw? Never heard of it. 

Monday Night Raw - April 17th 1995

• Big news to kick off the show as on the WWF Action Zone, Ted Dibiase announced that Sid is now a member of his Million Dollar Corporation. During that same segment, Bam Bam Bigelow was confirmed to still be a member of the group, and Vince speculated that Sid had in fact been under contract to Dibiase for a while. He explains that Sid attacking Michaels for giving him the night off didn’t make any sense and says that the Million Dollar Man has been pulling his strings all along. That would be sensible. 
• Duke “The Dumpster” Droese faces the debuting Jean-Pierre Lafitte. Jerry Lawler sings the praises of Jean Pierre’s grandfather who was mistreated by the American government. Vince speculates that he was just a pirate and a thief. He has his little pouch of gold dubloons which are a good luck charm. I have no idea what to think about this gimmick but Lafitte is a good wrestler. This is a competitive back and forth match which Lafitte wins with a big flipping senton bomb off the top rope.
• Earlier this week, Mr. Bob Backlund went to the beach in his suit to lecture the youth of America on how they are mis-spending their spring break. The Clinton Administration is failing Americans and everyone needs to listen to Backlund and the wisdom he’s imparting. 

• Doink the Clown faces a jobber. This is nothing. Doink and Dink hit a pair of whoopee cushion butt splashes off the top rope - complete with fart sound effects - for Doink to get the win.
• The first In Your House PPV report is hosted by Todd Pettengill. The In Your House concept is basically shorter PPV events (2 hours instead of 3) and offered at around half the price of events like Wrestlemania, Royal Rumble etc. This is the birth of the monthly PPV, something WWE has done for over 30 years now. There’s only one match announced so far - Sid vs. Diesel for the WWF title. Todd confirms that Diesel and Shawn Michaels are indeed friends again and have been in constant contact since Sid’s attack. 

• Owen Hart and Yokozuna make their first defence of the Tag Team titles against Bob Holly and the 1-2-3 Kid. This is a good match with Owen doing the bulk of the in-ring work for his team. Holly and the Kid have good back and forths with the King of the Ring until a hot tag to Yokozuna who catches the 1-2-3 Kid in mid-air and slams him with a 600lbs belly to belly suplex to pick up the victory and retain the titles. 
• Henry O. Godwin faces Rich Myer but I am very distracted by a character from the animated series Duckman calling in. He’s quite funny - the voice actor is quick, sharp and seems to know about wrestling. Godwin wins with the slop drop reverse DDT. I’m not sure why the USA Network has them pushing this Duckman series so aggressively. 

• The show ends with hype for next week. Bam Bam Bigelow will challenge Diesel for the WWF Championship which could throw a major spanner in the works for his Million Dollar Corporation partner Sid who is supposed to have his own title shot at In Your House. In addition, the mystery woman who attacked Alundra Blayze - Bertha Faye - will make her debut next week. Blayze has had surgery to repair her nose and will be back soon (but probably not next week)

Monday Night Raw - April 24th 1995

• Vince kicks off Raw with an energetic recap of Bam Bam Bigelow’s 1995 so far. He lost at the Royal Rumble, he lost at Wrestlemania, Ted Dibiase is embarrassed by his efforts and new Million Dollar Corp member Sid is very unhappy that Bam Bam has a WWF title match tonight because HE wants a title match with Diesel at In Your House - a match which will become a non-title match should Bam Bam win tonight. Tonight is Bam Bam’s big chance to not only win the title but to get back into the good graces of the Million Dollar Man and his Corporation. 
• The show kicks off with the returning Smoking Gunns vs. a pair of jobbers. Billy and Bart pick up the victory with a double team back suplex into a neckbreaker on the Brooklyn Brawler. Vince McMahon breaks the news here that the Gunns get their rematch with Owen Hart and Yokozuna for the Tag Team titles at In Your House.
• Backstage Bam Bam Bigelow, sporting a nasty black eye, says that he’s going to win the title for the Million Dollar Man. Dibiase seems a lot more subdued and supportive compared to his normal promo style and tells Bam Bam that he believes him. Does he though? In his own promo, Diesel says that he has no fear in defending the title tonight. He’s a fighting champion. He’s such a bland, boring babyface. “May the better man win, let's see what happens”.  

• Bertha Faye, accompanied by Harvey Whippleman, makes her in ring debut against La Panther? I think her name was? She’s a jobber. Bertha debuted in all black and with facepaint but here she’s wearing bright colours and skipped to the ring. She certainly has a unique look. Faye throws around the opponent, stopping to occasionally blow a kiss at Harvey, before finishing her off with a splash. Vince and Lawler spent most of this match being nasty about Bertha’s weight and appearance. Literally no need for that lads.

• In the In Your House report, Todd Pettengill promotes the giveaway of a house but more importantly adds a couple of matches to the PPV which you can see below. There’s also some talk about Jerry Lawler having an open contract for a match with Bret Hart, but Bret refuses to sign it? Todd doesn’t seem to know what the storyline is, and Bret says he has no idea what Lawler is talking about. Vince and King try to explain it later in the show and I still don’t really know what they mean?

• There’s a video introducing us to newcomer Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He doesn’t actually speak and at first I thought there might be some audio issues but it appears that the gimmick is that he’s too good to speak to us. 

• Bam Bam doesn’t just have a black eye, he looks like he’s missing a tooth! He must have gotten into a bar fight or something off camera because they give us no on-screen explanation for it. Before his WWF title match, Sid says that the only thing that will make “The Master” happy is winning the WWF title. He means himself. The Master is a pretty cool nickname as wrestling nicknames go. Bam Bam makes a good account of himself and Tatanka comes to ringside to help his team mate out. He actually trips Bigelow - a mistake? - and a big Jackknife later, Diesel retains the WWF Championship. The champion leaves quickly so that Dibiase can rant at Bam Bam about what an embarrassment he is. This was his third strike - Dibiase fires him and then slaps him in the face! Tatanka attacks his now former team mate but Bigelow fights him off and throws him up and out of the ring. He’s about to attack Dibiase - the face turn was effective because the crowd exploded. Bam Bam says that he can’t fire him because he quits! Before he can attack Dibiase - that was never going to happen, Ted has a bad neck injury and is retired now - IRS and Sid rush the ring and the three Million Dollar Corp members beat the hell out of him. Vince keeps calling Sid “Sycho Sid!” which I know is spelt incorrectly but that’s how the WWF spelt it. He puts down Bigelow with a big powerbomb of his own and then Diesel runs back to the ring and clears them out to prevent further harm. It’s a shame he didn’t run down and do that before the powerbomb right? That leads right into promotion for next week’s big main event - Sid vs. Razor Ramon! Ok, that is quite a big match.

Monday Night Raw - May 1st 1995

• The show opens with a big recap of last week’s show, specifically Bam Bam quitting the Million Dollar Corporation and the beating he got. Some unseen footage too as after Diesel rescued him, they shook hands and cemented Bam Bam’s big babyface turn. So that’s Bigelow and Shawn Michaels now babyfaces coming out of Wrestlemania. 
• The Allied Powers face two jobbers in ugly matching tights. This is their third TV match as a team and it’s the third time that Vince has spent the match calling Lugar and Bulldog the next WWF Tag Team Champions. It’s easy to see what his plans were, but this team won’t be around for long. A running powerslam by Bulldog gives them the victory.
• Bob Holly faces a jobber and beats him with a crossbody off the top rope. More important is what happened on The Action Zone. See, the 1-2-3 Kid is injured and so his scheduled Intercontinental title match with Jeff Jarrett couldn’t go ahead. Bob Holly filled in for him and actually BEAT Jeff for the IC title. Kind of. Double J’s foot was on the ropes so the pin shouldn’t have counted. President Jack Tunney has declared the title vacant and Jeff and Bob will have a rematch next week on the Action Zone to settle it.
• Speaking of the 1-2-3 Kid’s injury, because his neck is hurt he now can’t compete at In Your House. Razor Ramon insisted on the match going ahead anyway so he’s now facing Double J and The Roadie in a handicap match at the PPV. 
• Mantaur, managed by Jim Cornette, takes on a blonde mulleted jobber. He beats him with quite an impressive move actually, lifting him into a gorilla press and then dropping him into a slam. 
• Sycho Sid vs. Razor Ramon could legit be a PPV main event in this era. While Razor makes his entrance, Sid actually attacks from behind coming through Razor’s pyro which looks awesome. He jumps him from behind and drills him with a pair of powerbombs. He’s about to do it again when Diesel runs to the ring and chases him off. Sid talks to himself as he leaves, murmuring about how he’s The Master and we’ll all see. 

• Next up, Adam Bomb faces a goofy looking jobber with a bushy moustache. Vince confirms another In Your House match here - Adam Bomb vs. the 500lbs Mabel. This is a showcase for Bomb, specifically that he can win without his big power moves. A clothesline off the top rope gives him the victory. 
• There’s another Hunter Hearst Helmsley video. This time he DOES speak and it’s with a fake English accent? He’s not very good at the accent, but obviously the arrival of Helmsley is big news for us, who know the future.
• Men on a Mission face a pair of scrubs. There’s no Oscar to rap for them anymore - he refused to turn heel with Mabel and Mo so he’s been kicked to the curb. Mable tries to rap during their entrance in his place but can’t really do it. The Men on a Mission gimmick doesn’t feel very well suited to a heel turn but what do I know? A DDT by Mo has the victory but he breaks his own pin to keep the beating going. A 500lbs belly to belly suplex by Mabel gives them the victory. 
• At the end of the show we might get some clarity on what Jerry Lawler is talking about with this contract business as Bret Hart comes out to confront him directly. Lawler is claiming that Bret is afraid to sign the contract to fight him which seems to be an attempt to goad him into signing? You wouldn’t think he’d have to try very hard. Bret calls Laweler a coward and accepts his challenge - he’ll beat Hakushi at In Your House and then he’ll face Lawler the same night and beat him too! Bret leaves and once he’s gone, King breaks out into a big laugh. It seems like getting Bret to agree to wrestle twice in one night was his plan all along! 

Monday Night Raw - May 8th 1995

• Last week the title was vacant after controversy but after a rematch, Double J defeated Bob Holly to officially become a two-time Intercontinental Champion. He kicks off Raw against Doink the Clown. Doink gives the champion a really hard time and comes close to an upset win until the Roadie clips Doink’s knee while the referee is distracted allowing Jarrett to lock in the Figure Four for a submission victory. 
• After the video promoting the arrival of Hunter Hearst Helmsley last week, there’s another big newcomer - Sunny! The woman has certainly had her issues in recent years and in fact as I write this, she’s serving a 17 year prison sentence for causing someone’s death in a drunk driving accident. It’s all very sad but there’s no denying what a big star she was for the WWF from 1995 - 1997. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of chances to talk about her in future.

• Bam Bam Bigelow speaks to us in a pre-recorded segment. He praises Lawrence Taylor and Diesel while distancing himself from the Million Dollar Corporation and his previous villainous deeds. He’s a big time babyface now. His future? He says he’s going to run through each and every member, starting with Irwin R. Schyster next week on Raw.

• Vince McMahon interviews Ted Dibase and Sid in the ring. The Million Dollar man lays it all out for us - he was the one who suggested Shawn Michaels get a body guard, and he was the one who suggested Sid. The big man has ALWAYS worked for him and he is the crown jewel of his new, reorganised Million Dollar Corporation. Sid rants like a mad man about lions and being king of the jungle, promising to drive Diesel through the match and ends by screaming that he’s the man who rules the world. He sounds insane, which is very much the point. 

• Hakushi faces Gary Scott. Jerry Lawler spends the match running through his old jokes at the expense of Stu and Helen Hart and saying that Hakushi is going to soften up Bret Hart for him at In Your House. Bret is facing them both, one after another. Hakushi wins this with a springboard splash which looked very nice.
• Todd Pettengill’s main selling point for In Your House is how cheap the event is. It’s cheaper than half a tank of gas. Cheaper than movie tickets. Cheaper than taking your family out for dinner. There’s no new matches this week but Todd does confirm that the Adam Bomb vs. Mabel match is the first qualifying match for the 1995 King of the Ring. That is news. 

• In the main event, one half of the Tag Team Champions Owen Hart (with Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji) faces Bart Gunn in a preview of their Tag Team title match at In Your House. Bart has Billy for backup and that makes the difference as after a back and forth and attempts to cheat by Cornette, Billy trips Owen off the top rope, undetected by the referee, and Bart follows up with a roll up to steal the victory and some momentum for their tag team title rematch.
• At the end of the show, Jerry Lawler makes an announcement he’s been hyping up all night. The PPV is on Mother’s Day (in the states, Mother’s Day is in March everywhere else) and so he says he’ll have HIS mother at ringside for his match with Bret Hart and his mum will challenge Bret’s mum to a fight. Silly.