Monday Night Raw - May 15th 1995

  • After opening promos by IRS and Bam Bam Bigelow about their match tonight (they don’t say much, IRS calls Bam Bam a tax cheat and Bigelow says he’ll show us why he’s the Beast from the East, standard), Jerry Lawler brags about beating Bret Hart “fair and square” last night at In Your House. King is pretty amusing here. Vince also mentions that tonight we’ll finally get Mr. Bob Backlund’s “long awaited big announcement” which they actually did hype on the past two Raws but then it didn’t actually happen which makes me think they edited the segment out of the show at the last minute.
  • In the opening match, WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna take on a pair of jobbers. Non-title match of course. Yoko looks bigger than he did last year - he was definitely over 600lbs by this point. He takes his time with the no-names and finishes him off with a big spinning slam. I love how Owen celebrates after every win with both Tag Team title belts. Yoko seems happy to let his little buddy be a bit of a glory hog. 
  • Man Mountain Rock performs a little guitar riff (with his WWF logo guitar, which is cool) and then squashes Iron Mike Sharpe. King spends the whole match making fun of his weight and calling him fat and then he wins with an armbar submission. That was…a weird choice of finisher?
  • Vince shows the segment from In Your House when an 11 year old boy won a house in Florida (I looked it up, the family sold the house because they lived in Las Vegas and didn’t want to relocate) and mentions that the winner’s favourite wrestler is Shawn Michaels. I wonder if that’s true, or just the company trying to hammer home that HBK is a babyface now? Anyway, Shawn will be back next week for a match with King Kong Bundy.
  • Next up, we get a formal introduction to Savio Vega who speaks Spanish very quickly as Vince and King struggle to get a word in. He made his debut at In Your House, coming out of the crowd to save Razor Ramon from a two on one beating by Double J and the Roadie. I have no idea if Savio did speak English well but he comes across here as barely speaking it. He’s very fired up and excited which I think is his gimmick. He’s mates with Razor so you know he’s a good guy. I mentioned it at In Your House and have probably mentioned it previously but Savio also played Kwang. 
  • Just like at the PPV, Barry the merch guy (I’m not going to try and spell his surname) does his best to sell us a t-shirt. Jerry Lawler says he wants the name and address of everyone who buys a Bret Hart t-shirt so he can go to their house and slap them. That’s pretty funny.
  • In a King of the Ring qualifying match, Bob “Sparkplugg” Holly takes on Mantaur. This is one of those matches which is just SO “New Gen” with these two gimmicks in the ring. Bob sustains a long beating but with a diving crossbody off the top rope, advances to the quarter finals. He gets a big pop too. Who knew Sparkplugg was so over?
  • In the ring, Vince interviews Mr. Bob Backlund. Backlund uses big words incorrectly (a gimmick I love) and rants like a mad man, listing many historical moments but getting all the dates wrong (he claims that the Olympics started in 1776). His big announcement is that he’s running for President of the United States and then a marching band and people holding placards come and do a lap of the ring. Jerry Lawler gets a “Backlund for President” button to wear too.
  • Before the main event, after a recap of last night’s main event (Diesel retained the WWF title over Sid by disqualification and then Bam Bam rescued him from a big beat down), Million Dollar Man challenges Diesel and Bam Bam to a tag team match on behalf of Sid and Tatanka. That leads into Bam Bam Bigelow vs. IRS. Bam Bam has new entrance gear - it’s like a flame waistcoat which shoots little pyro charges out of the back. It looks rubbish because the red and orange clashes with his black and blue gear but I like the idea of it. Bam Bam then introduces the man who’ll be in his corner tonight, WWF Champion Big Daddy Cool Diesel. He chases Dibiase around the ring and sends him running to the back leaving IRS all alone against Bam Bam. It's a back and forth match which Bam Bam wins fair and square. Diesel gets in the ring to celebrate with him and then Tatanka and Sid start to walk to the ring. Vince gets all excited like they might fight but then it quickly cuts to a commercial break. When we come back? They’re all gone. The final segment of the show is a little music video for Shawn Michaels and more hype for his return next week to battle King Kong Bundy. 

Monday Night Raw - May 22nd 1995

  • Raw kicks off with Razor Ramon (accompanied by "Caribbean legend” Savio Vega) taking on Mike Bell. Razor had a busy weekend as he qualified for the King of the Ring tournament on Superstars and then on the house show circuit, won the Intercontinental title for a 3rd time and then lost it back to Jeff Jarrett. That makes Razor the first ever 3 time IC Champion and Jeff the second ever 3 time IC Champion in the span of a couple of days, and none of it on TV. Odd choice. Razor wins with ease.
  • Jerry Lawler spent all of last week’s show mocking Bret Hart and spent all of the first match tonight mocking him too so the Hitman has finally had enough and marches to the ring with no fanfare. He says he hates to make excuses and he’s left shocked and disgusted that he lost to “worthless scum” like Lawler. Bret speaks passionately about having lost the title and now losing to Lawler and how it’s shaken him and made him wonder if he’s good enough anymore. He challenges him once again so he can settle the score once and for all and says it can be any kind of match he wants. Vince seems taken aback by Bret’s attitude and aggression and he actually swears, calling King a son of a bitch and saying he’s lower than shit. He grabs at him and has to be physically restrained by referees and officials. This felt really heated and real, especially for this era. Jerry Lawler has gone too far and Bret Hart has snapped.
  • A HUGE debut. Hunter Hearst Helmsley faces John Crystal. I try not to look forward too much but it’s hard to ignore the fact that Triple H’s arrival in the WWF is a big deal. He struts around with his arm behind his back, playing a Greenwich snob with a faux English accent (he dropped that quite soon after). The future Game drives Crystal face-first into the mat with the move later known as the Pedigree to win this match.
  • In his first political broadcast, Mr. Bob Backlund updates us on his platform while running for President. His main beliefs are that everyone must buy a dictionary, read one classic novel per week and the abolishment of the calculator so everyone can use their brains. Oh and summer vacations are cancelled! I really like Backlund and I think he could have and should have been a top heel with his dangerous maniac gimmick, but I do find him entertaining in this role too. He’s funny, but I don’t know if he means to be funny or if he’s just a weird guy. 
  • The Allied Powers team of Lex Lugar and British Bulldog face two jobbers. This is just a show case for the two big men who throw them around and show off their power moves. On the previous Superstars they faced Men on a Mission and Bulldog actually got Mabel up on his shoulders at one point which is very impressive. A running powerslam by Bulldog gives them the victory and Vince continues to hammer home that they are in line for a Tag Team Championship match, which I do think is a good idea.
  • Last week, Ted Dibiase challenged Diesel and Bam Bam to a tag team match on behalf of Sid and Tatanka. That challenge was accepted but there’s no confirmation of where it’ll take place. Yet. 
  • Kama, with Ted Dibiase, squashes Barry Horowitz and makes him submit with a single leg Boston crab. 
  • The Main event wasn’t promoted as a KOTR qualifier last week but it is - Shawn Michaels and King Kong Bundy. HBK has started to grow out his mullet (thank God) and gets a really positive response from the crowd who have embraced his face turn with open arms. He was too good to keep booing. He attacks Bundy right away and sends him the outside with a dropkick, following him out with a dive over the ropes too. The fans love it. Bundy slows things down and works on Shawn’s back. Diesel and Bam Bam are shown watching backstage, cheering on Michaels who wins this match with ease in the end, knocking Bundy off his feet with a crossbody off the top and then dropping him with a superkick which is now established as his finishing move for the pinfall victory. Diesel and Bigelow come to the ring to check on Michaels and celebrate with him. Vince has called Diesel and Shawn “best friends” since Sid turned on him and made no mention of their feud, but thankfully it's brought up here. There’s some tension with Diesel and Shawn in the ring together and the WWF Champion offers a handshake. Michaels looks unsure but with some encouragement, accepts the old running high five! That makes it official - they’re best of friends again, and Michaels joins him and Bam Bam in the babyface club. Big night for HBK! 
  • Raw ends with comments from The Undertaker and Paul Bearer. He has a King of the Ring qualifier next week against Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett. That’s a pretty big main event to be fair! Fun.

Monday Night Raw - May 29th 1995

  • Raw opens with Jeff Jarrett already in the ring, promising that he’s going to beat Undertaker. It’s obvious that Raw is a pre-taped one as while we can hear Vince and Lawler’s commentary, we can also see the pair of them at ringside standing with no headsets on. The arena lights go out to herald the arrival of the deadman. I thought that meant this match would start the show but after the Raw intro, Jeff is gone and the show kicks off as normal.
  • Diesel is shown icing his elbow backstage. He’s had reconstructive surgery apparently? Hopefully more details on that later because he was fine last week!
  • The opener is “Don’t call him” Sycho Sid vs. Mike Curry. Vince gives Sid credit for Diesel’s elbow injury and they show a slow motion replay of the powerbomb at In Your House where Diesel’s arm did land awkwardly on the mat. Doesn’t explain why he was fine the last two weeks though? I really like Sid! He screams like a maniac as he bullies and dominates poor Mike, finishing him with an awesome looking powerbomb. That leads into an interview with Big Daddy Cool from the hospital and his surgeon, Dr. Andrews who has made lots of appearances on WWF TV over the years in this same context. There’s also some nice coverage of the non-profit research institute into sports medicine which has done a lot of good work over the years.
  • Adam Bomb beats up Bob Cook, who looks a bit like Rob Bartlett. Remember him? A flying clothesline off the top rope ends it. 
  • In the King of the Ring Report, Todd tells us the main event which is the big Tag Team match which has been hyped up for the past couple of weeks. Bam Bam says that he and Diesel are going to make the Corporation bankrupt. He also dares Jerry Lawler to accept a match with Bret Hart, which he refuses to do, even with Bret offering to let him pick any kind of match he wants.
  • “The modern day kamikaze” Hakushi squashes a mulleted jobber. Before the match, Hakushi and Shinja open a bag in the ring which contains the decapitated head of Bret Hart! That’s dramatic, but it didn’t get much of a reaction from the crowd, which is disappointing. 
  • Vince McMahon interviews WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze. She’s back after having her nose broken and sets her sights on Bertha Faye. She doesn’t say much here really. 
  • Men on a Mission face two jobbers. Its an easy victory for the two big men.
  • In the main event, Jeff Jarrett vs. The Undertaker is quite a big match, especially as a King of the Ring qualifier. Jeff is afraid of the Deadman and runs around the ring to avoid him with even Roadie being grabbed around the throat, but that distraction lets Jeff gain control. He throws punches, kicks and dropkicks because Undertaker is too big and strong for his usual wrestling gameplan. He locks in the Figure Four at one point and Roadie holds his hands to provide illegal leverage until Paul Bearer chases him around the ring. Jeff slowly works over Undertaker who isn’t as strong as he used to be without his urn. Jeff is overwhelmed and a big Tombstone gives Undertaker the victory to move on in the tournament. This was decent and that Tombstone looked fantastic. 

Monday Night Raw - June 5th 1995

  • Raw starts with some “earlier today” footage from Bob Backlund’s campaign rally outside the arena. He probably should have run for President legit - he’d have got the company a bit of press coverage!
  • There’s a bunch of big information revealed at the top of the show by Vince and King but we’ll get to them as they come up. The first is the in-ring debut of Caribbean legend Savio Vega who makes his opponent submit to the abdominal stretch in about two minutes. A strong debut. 
  • Just like Sid at In Your House and for Shawn a couple of weeks ago, there’s a music video for WWF Champion Diesel
  • In the second debut, The Bodydonnas combo of Skip and Sunny are here. Skip warms up backstage as Sunny encourages him, and Sunny calls the fans a bunch of fat, out of shape losers who should look to them for inspiration. I mentioned Sunny’s real life troubles and crimes in the years since so I don’t feel the need to beat a dead horse and will just talk about her as she appeared in 1995 on these shows and try not to get too bogged down in real life. It’s how I’ve tried to handle all these kinds of things, including Vince McMahon himself for that matter. Skip beats Barry Horowitz with a leg drop off the top rope. 
  • In the King of the Ring Report, Todd runs down the KOTR tournament so far (with the final qualifier still to come on Raw) and a new match which was brought up at the start of the show - Jerry Lawler has accepted Bret’s challenge and will face him at the PPV in a “Kiss my foot” match. The graphic they’ve used for the foot is gross looking isn’t it?
  • From a different arena, filmed elsewhere I guess, Owen Hart faces British Bulldog in a King of the Ring qualifying match. The commentary is taken over on this one by Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon. I guess that’s just to try and hide the fact that this whole show was taped - more believable that the two arenas would have different commentary duos. The interesting thing here is that Owen is last year’s King, and if he wins this match he’ll face Razor Ramon in the quarter finals. He beat Razor in the final last year. Monsoon continually calls Owen “the Rocket King” which is a mismatch of nicknames that he doesn’t use anymore. That bugs me. This is a really good match and JR and Gorilla really ramp up the tension, counting down the 15 minute time limit. Bulldog hits his running powerslam with 90 seconds to go but Owen gets his foot on the ropes. Bulldog does fast with a couple of roll ups and Owen does the same. It’s a mad dash to pick up the win with only 30 seconds left and the time limit expires. Neither man advances in the tournament, leaving one spot still open in the final eight. Bulldog wants another five minutes to be added but he doesn’t get it. Later in the show, Vince says that next week Lex Lugar will face Yokozuna and now THAT will be the final King of the Ring qualifying match.
  • In a pre-recorded promo, Jerry Lawler shows off his disgusting bare feet and tells Bret Hart that he hasn’t washed his feet in over two weeks and won’t be washing them until AFTER the King of the Ring because the loser of their match at the PPV has to kiss the feet of the winner. That’s gross. After a commercial break, Vince interviews Bret in the ring. He talks seriously about how ashamed he is of losing to Jerry Lawler and how much he’s let down his friends, family and fans. While he talks, Lawler takes his shoes off to show off his feet and has a good giggle. Bret says that he’s holding back tonight because he’s saving everything for King of the Ring. He dedicates the match at King of the Ring to everyone he let down at In Your House and says he won’t just make King kiss his feet, he’s going to shove his own foot into his mouth too. 
  • Jean Pierre Lafitte defeats a jobber with his finishing move, a flipping senton bomb off the top rope. Basically a Swanton Bomb for longtime fans.
  • The show ends with a video package recapping Yokozuna and Lex Lugar’s big feud from 1993 to add some fuel to the fire for their big King of the Ring qualifying match next week. It feels cruel to remind everyone about when Lex was a main eventer and top star considering how far he’s fallen since. 

Monday Night Raw - June 12th 1995

  • Raw opens up with a dramatic bit of build up to tonight’s main event. It’s Lex Lugar vs. Yokozuna “for the first time ever on television” which I guess is true. It’s funny to have Vince discuss things that happened two years ago like this is a current feud and this match in the King of the Ring is the blow-off.
  • Bam Bam Bigelow faces infamous jobber Duane Gill. Diesel phones in during this to discuss he and Bam Bam’s tag team match at King of the Ring. He’ll be back from his elbow surgery at the PPV but he might not be 100% healed up. He’s a big tough guy and he won’t let that stop him. A headbutt off the top rope gives Bigelow the victory.
  • There’s a video promoting the arrival of Waylon Mercy. The gimmick is a soft spoken, slightly menacing southern creep. It’s based on Robert de Niro’s character in Cape Fear. Never seen the movie, but I don’t really get this.
  • Kama the Supreme Fighting Machine hammers some jobber in light blue tights. Vince and King spend the match talking about Bret Hart and how cross Jerry Lawler’s feet are, which is distracting. Kama wins a nice overhead belly to belly suplex ahead of his King of the Ring match with Shawn Michaels. He goes out to confront some “Undertaker fans” who are basically stoic looking kids in goth makeup and dressed in black. He is still feuding with Undertaker, and still has what’s left of his urn, even though they haven’t interacted on TV since Wrestlemania. 
  • At ringside, Jerry Lawler has a huge rubber foot covered in boils and scabs which Vince sells as being really smelly. He says his feet will be even worse than that when Bret has to kiss it at King of the Ring. 
  • Man Mountain Rock shows off his guitar skills and then makes a jobber submit with his armbar finisher, which Vince says is called the Whammy Bar. Good name. Vince has been teasing that Mr. Bob Backlund, who hates Rock N Roll music of course, is feuding with Man Mountain Rock and sure enough after a commercial break, the future President of the USA finds MMR’s guitar backstage and drops it on the floor, kicking it. He then rants to the camera about how rock music is eroding the youth of America’s brains! I kind of love Bob Backlund. 
  • Another debut on Raw this week - Tekno Team 2000, Travis and Troy. Troy is actually Erik Watts, son of legendary wrestling promoter Bill Watts who had some, very limited success in wrestling. I have no memory of Tekno Team 2000. They win this with the favourite finisher of the freshly debuted babyface - a crossbody off the top rope. 
  • In the main event, Lex Lugar and Yokozuna fill the final spot in the King of the Ring tournament. Obviously Vince wants us to think about their history from two years ago when both were main eventers but there’s a more recent story - Lex and Bulldog are chasing Yoko and Owen’s tag team titles, and their respective partners had a time limit draw last week. The winner of this is supposed to face Razor Ramon at the PPV in the first round but Razor suffered a rib injury apparently. Vince promises more updates on Razor’s status later. He also says that Yokozuna’s current billed weight is 641lbs, which might be legit. After a heated back and forth, Mr. Fuji distracts Lex by chasing his flag bearer. Lex goes out to defend his honour and is jumped from behind. Yokozuna runs him into the ring post and then squashes him with a leg drop, getting back into the ring to win via count out. Just like their feud in 1993, Lex comes up short once again to Yokozuna and looks like a bit of a geek in the process.
  • At the end of Raw, Jerry Lawler shows us his “training footage” and how he’s getting ready for King of the Ring. It basically consists of Lawler walking around barefoot in a house stall, getting his feet caked in mud and horse manure so that they’re as dirty and smelly as possible for when Bret has to kiss them. There’s also some footage from WWF Superstars where Jerry Lawler defeated Aldo Montoya and after the loss, removed his boot and stuffed his disgusting foot into Aldo’s mouth. Repulsive. 

Monday Night Raw - June 19th 1995

  • This week opens with The Undertaker vs. a skinny jobber with a bushy mullet. He’s still locked in his forever feud with the Million Dollar Corporation and has a date with Kama at some point but for now, he’s got his King of the Ring quarter final match with Mabel to worry about. A chokeslam (which doesn’t have a name yet) and a Tombstone gives him the victory.
  • Adam Bomb squashes Bill Pain, finishing him with the diving clothesline off the ropes he was fond of using.
  • During the King of the Ring Report, Todd runs down the card. That doesn’t take long as there’s only two matches outside of the tournament confirmed. Jerry Lawler talked relentlessly about his feet and how smelly and gross they are throughout this show. Turned my stomach. Razor Ramon is injured, but for now he’s still in the tournament and we need to wait and see if the doctors will allow him to compete on the night. 
  • Sid and Tatanka make their first TV appearance as a tag team with a warm up match before the King of the Ring. They’re facing the formidable team of Fatu and Sionne, The Headshrinkers. They put up a good fight but a powerbomb to Fatu in the ring, a powerbomb to Sionne on the outside ends it for Dibiase’s team. Sid is happy to let Tatanka take the victory after he did all the work.
  • Vince McMahon interviews Bam Bam and Diesel from backstage about their changes. Diesel’s elbow isn’t 100% but he thinks it is good enough to get them through the PPV tag team match. Vince accuses them of not having enough confidence as they both sell being  concerned about Big Daddy Cool’s elbow. 
  • King hosts a weird pre-recorded video where he takes a tour of a museum to show off various medevil torture devices which giggling about what he’d do to Bret Hart. 
  • Hunter Hearst Helmsley squashes another jobber with the Pedigree in his second Raw appearance.
  • In the main event, promoted since last week, Shawn Michaels is in action. This is just for him to show off and he he has some fun, running in and out of the ring and even hopping into the crowd to sit with the fans which gets a LOT of loud girly screams. Shawn totally outclasses the guy, dropping him with a superkick on the outside. He could have won via countout but instead rolls him into the ring. He’s about to pin him but the fans chant “one more time” so he takes a moment before standing the guy up and giving it to them, followed by a comedy pin. HBK is about to celebrate when his King of the Ring opponent Kama rushes the ring to try and attack him. Michaels is way too quick and sends him packing with a dropkick. Undertaker is out next to stalk Kama and even Michaels is smart enough to keep his distance from the deadman. Next out is HIS King of the Ring opponent who stares menacingly from the ramp. These would appear to be the four favourites in the King of the Ring tournament, which is saying something given that Razor Ramon and Yokozuna are also in it (for now).

A fast six weeks! I can’t honestly say it was good - most of the card is stuck in a holding pattern from the last PPV and there was a LOT of talk about Jerry Lawler’s feet. I have to say that with a couple of obvious exceptions, on paper it might be the strongest line up of quarter finals ever, in terms of future and former WWF Champions and main eventers.

 

WWF Champion Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Sid and Tatanka (w/Ted Dibiase)

 

Kiss My Foot match

Bret Hart vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler