Monday Night Raw  - January 23rd 1995

• Raw opens with a somber Vince McMahon who apologises to everyone for the unprofessional conduct of Bam Bam Bigelow at the Royal Rumble and uses Bam Bam’s real name when telling us he’s been suspended without pay. He means when Bigelow, angry at losing the Tag Team title match and feeling like the fans were laughing at him, shoved NFL player and major celebrity (in 1995) Lawrence Taylor in the front row. 
• After the Raw opening, Vince brings out his co-host tonight; 1995 Royal Rumble winner Shawn Michaels. He shows no humility - he TOLD us he was going to win it, and he did. And he did it after entering at number one and lasting the entire match. He’s going to Wrestlemania, he’s going to win the WWF Championship and he’s going to do it with Pamela Anderson on his arm. Shawn has evolved so much. He was great in 1993 anyway but in less than two years he’s developed a huge main eventer swagger.

• The opening match is the new WWF Tag Team Champions the 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly defending their newly won titles against The Smoking Gunns. I mentioned previously that the Gunns were knocked out of the Tag Team tournament because of a “rodeo accident” which is nonsense, and is just a pure storyline decision so that they could get this title match the next night on Raw. Vince spends the match explaining that the Gunns would have been expecting Tatanka and Bam Bam to win last night so likely aren’t prepared for this match - they’re really hammering home that the Kid and Holly duo were underdogs and unlikely champions which feels like a good plot point for them managing to hold onto the title for a couple of months. Stay tuned. This is a decent match - Holly and the Kid look pretty strong here compared to last night and control much of the match. There’s a nice spot with a double superplex on Billy Gunn. The Kid in particular shows a little bit more fire and basically works this match as the heel, throwing cheap shots at the other man on the apron and getting frustrated when Billy kicks out. The finish comes out of nowhere with Billy countering a top rope dive from Holly with a dropkick which is enough to win the Tag Team titles! The Smoking Gunns end the Cinderella story. After a commercial break (Bam Bam Bigelow does the Slim Jim adverts now) Vince speaks to the now former champions. The 1-2-3 Kid is pretty upset that they were forced to defend the titles only 24 hours after winning them and then cuts off Holly when he tries to speak, asking the Gunns to give them a rematch next week.

• In the final Royal Rumble report (recorded last night at the Rumble itself) Todd recaps all the shenanigans during the WWF Championship match. I don’t need to detail that because you’ve read my Royal Rumble coverage haven’t you? Diesel is still Champion after interference by Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Bob Backlund, The Roadie and the new Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett. The other big plot point of the night was King Kong Bundy attacking The Undertaker and IRS stealing the urn from Paul Bearer.
• After the Royal Rumble report, amid chants of “Diesel” from the crowd, Shawn Michaels says that he might need to get himself a new bodyguard ahead of his WWF Championship match at Wrestlemania.
• During IRS vs. Buck Quartermain, Rowdy Roddy Piper calls in to talk about how much he loves the New Generation and heaps praise on Diesel, on the new WWF Tag Team Champions and mentions Bam Bam Bigelow’s cheap shot at Lawrence Taylor, which Vince quickly changes the subject from. IRS wins with the Write Off clothesline and celebrates with the Undertaker’s stolen urn. 
• There’s a video promoting the debut of Man Mountain Rock. He’s a big fat white guy with dreadlocks who plays electric guitar. He’s a character I know of but don’t have any memories about so I can’t imagine he lasted long. We’ll find out together I suppose.

• On The King’s Court, new Intercontinental Champion Double J crows about his big victory over Razor Ramon and then challenges Diesel. He wants the WWF Championship too! Vince calls him greedy as Jarrett calls Diesel a coward and dares him give him a title shot. He’s going to be a double champion and the biggest star of all time. 

• The British Bulldog, who’s performance at the Royal Rumble was almost as good as Shawn’s lasting from number 2 until the very end, faces the masked Black Phantom. He wins with the running powerslam while talking trash to Michaels on commentary about the Rumble match.
• At the end of the show is supposed to be Bam Bam Bigelow’s apology to Lawrence Taylor however due to technical difficulties he’s unable to hear Vince and so the show ends with a frustrated Bigelow demanding to “just get this over with” but not actually apologising for what he did at the Rumble.

Monday Night Raw  - January 30th 1995

• Raw kicks off with the same commentary duo as last week. We know this is pre-taped as Vince and Shawn are in front of a dodgy green screen. The opening match is one that was promoted heavily last week - the 500lbs Mabel vs. the almost 500lbs King Kong Bundy in an over the top rope challenge. Vince keeps calling it a two man Royal Rumble. Shawn says he lasted 45 minutes in the Royal Rumble. He lasted 38 minutes. These two big men shove at each other and try to push each other over the ropes, slowly. Fellow Million Dollar Corp members IRS and Tatanka run down to help out Bundy and the three of them dump Mabel out. Bundy wins the match. Lex Lugar and Mo run down to stop the three on one attack from going any further. 
• Bam Bam tries again to make the apology he promised last week. Vince recaps the moments that led to his altercation with Taylor and rubs salt in the wound hammering home how embarrassed he must be after losing to the 1-2-3 Kid. He was bleeding from the mouth and needed stitches, he was abandoned by his manager and tag team partner…he was thrown off his game. Bigelow gets angry and says that Lawrence disrespected him. He refuses to apologise and is glad of what he did. He challenges Larence Taylor to take off the pads and face him man to man, any time and any place! After the commercial break, Vince says that Bigelow’s actions and challenge has all of the officials scrambling. Shawn Michaels defends Bigelow’s words and says it’s fair for a man to feel disrespected and to stand up for himself.

• Hakushi faces Ricky Santana. The man servant with the white painted face’s name is Shinja. He holds his master’s coat and hat as the man from Japan demolishes Santana with martial arts kicks and finishes him off with a cartwheel into a standing moonsault. That gets a big reaction from both Vince and Shawn, who praises Hakushi so we know he’s probably meant to be a heel. 
• Aldo Montoya faces David Sierra. The Portuguese Man O War has a big pyro display for his entrance now which I quite like. Aldo wins a VERY short match with a crossbody off the top rope.

• On this week’s King’s Court, Mr. Bob Backlund looks a lot more serious and stoic than normal. The point of this is that from now on, whenever he locks on the Crossface Chickenwing, he will NOT release the hold until they say the words “I Quit, Mr. Bob Backlund”. King says that Bob can no doubt get that hold on ANYONE in the WWF, apart from himself of course. Backlund says that no one is exempt from the policy. Shawn and Vince annoyingly talk constantly over both King and Backlund as they speak. Backlund takes issue with King’s words and goes to put him in the Chickenwing so Lawler quickly says I Quit before it's applied! Bob leaves so King makes excuses that he meant he quits the Interview! He’d never submit to a hold. Backlund comes back to the ring so King pulls the old “look it’s Bret Hart!” trick to distract him so he’s able to escape unharmed. Funny stuff. 

• I mentioned at the Royal Rumble that Raw is starting to shift presentation to having more than just one proper match per week. We had the over the top rope challenge earlier and now a rematch for the WWF Tag Team Championships - The Smoking Gunns vs. The 1-2-3 Kid and Sparkplug Bob Holly. This is a lot more back and forth than their match last week and after a hot tag, the 1-2-3 Kid comes flipping backwards off the top rope and lands hard on his neck and shoulder. His eyes roll back in his head and the match stops in its tracks as Bob, Billy and Bart all check on the 1-2-3 Kid. Vince’s voice goes serious and somber as the ring fills with referees and medical personnel. After a commercial break, Vince cheerfully assures us that the Kid got up and is FINE. Ok then? I wonder if they maybe originally filmed this with a different story in mind but then changed their minds? A fake injury is quite dark for the New Gen.
• Kama the Supreme Fighting Machine makes his in-ring debut against a big fat jobber. He’s huge, he looks like Bastion Booger (remember him?). Kama picks him apart and beats him up with judo trips and strikes. Shawn Michaels, who is still on the hunt for a new bodyguard, analyses Kama and seems to be considering him for the role. Kama wins this very easily with a submission, a sort of modified STF, and the show just ends. No goodbye message from Vince and Shawn.

Monday Night Raw  - February 6th 1995

• After a quick recap of last week’s Over the top rope challenge and all the interference, Vince plugs tonight’s main event which is a six man tag team match - Men on a Mission and Lex Lugar vs. The Million Dollar Corp in a six man tag team match. Shawn has some fun, dancing to MoM’s theme music and making sure he stands in front of Vince to block him out. When the six man begins to kick off the show, Vince and Shawn draw our attention to the fact that Ted Dibiase is not at ringside as normal. Is that important? Tatanka spends the match, keeping his distance from Lex Lugar. Are they still feuding? Vince promotes that next week on the WWF Action Zone, they will finally go one on one. Lex Lugar’s fall from grace continues as after a 10 minute back and forth, The Million Dollar Corp cheats, but not really. Tatanka lays out Lex with a DDT and then King Kong Bundy crawls into a pin to steal the victory. Oh and Ted Dibiase did show up to distract the referee. So I guess he did matter? This finish was kind of a mess. 

• There’s a longer video about new-comer Man Mountain Rock this week so here it is. It’s not an awful gimmick but I have no memory of this guy. He makes his in-ring debut against a jobber I’ve never seen before and, in his tye-dyed onesie squashes him with a reverse suplex, bringing him down face first to the mat.

• Bobby Cupo, who is a representative of Lawlrence Taylor apparently, reads a prepared statement. The WWF’s apology was accepted and Taylor meant no disrespect to Bam Bam at the Royal Rumble. He still wants an apology from him, and has no plans to become a WWF Superstar and won’t be accepting Bam Bam’s challenge. 

• There’s a replay of the WWF Action Zone. Diesel retained the WWF Championship over Owen Hart with the Jackknife powerbomb and then Shawn Michaels came out to scout his prospective opponent for Wrestlemania. Vince McMahon interviewed Diesel earlier today. Diesel is a humble, softly spoken babyface now. Vince hypes up the dozens and dozens of main stream media appearances the champ has made since winning the title and all the sports people and celebrities he’s friends with now. Diesel gives a lot of praise to Owen Hart, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels for their skills and says the work load of a champion won’t wear him down. Vince breaks the news that he’ll defend the title against Double J on Raw in two weeks, and then back in the arena Shawn says that on that same episode of Raw (that’s the next one, next week’s is pre-empted) he will finally unveil his new bodyguard. 

• Mantaur (no idea why, but he’s managed by Jim Cornette) moos and moans like cattle and defeats Leroy Howard with a sidewalk slam.
• Razor Ramon battles Frank Lancaster. He looks ancident with a bald spot so I assume ended his career shortly after this. The Bad Guy puts him down with the Razor’s Edge.
• In the main event, Henry O Godwin, the hog farmer, faces a jobber of his own. Vince spends the match talking about how Henry gave Undertaker a run for his money on Superstars last weekend. Big push for the farmer. He wins this with his slop-drop reverse DDT.
• At the end of the show, Vince plugs next Raw, which is in two weeks, and the big moments - Shawn Michaels unveils his bodyguard, Bam Bam Bigelow will be back from his suspension and Diesel defends the WWF Championship against Jeff Jarrett. Shawn breaks the news that this will be his last appearance on commentary and Vince will need a new partner going forward. That actually is a shame, I’ve enjoyed his antics on commentary and he’s been able to do himself a lot of favours basically cutting an hour long promo every week on TV. 

Monday Night Raw  - February 20th 1995

• Bam Bam Bigelow returns to in-ring action after his 30 day suspension. During the match we get a little recap of the interaction with Lawrence Taylor - his representatives have said no to the match, and now accused the WWF of perpetuating this issue to try and goad him into a match and put out a cease and desist. Vince doesn’t really react to that accusation which actually makes it seem real. Jim Cornette is on commentary and he has no issue defending Bam Bam for standing up for himself, and calling Lawrence Taylor a coward. The fans chant “LT” at Bam Bam so the story seems to be working! Bam Bam wins with the diving headbutt and then after the match challenges Taylor to a fight once again, any time and any place. Ted Dibiase wasn’t at ringside for the match but he did come out to stand behind Bigelow for that final promo.

• Adam Bomb faces Rip Rogers. Rogers looks about 45 here, but he actually went viral briefly on social media in the 2010s as a “veteran wrestler” who showed the proper way to do things, and ranted about how the younger wrestlers don’t know what they’re doing anymore. Bomb beats him with a clothesline off the top rope.
• Bret Hart was awarded the fan voted “1994 Face of the New Generation” on WWF Superstars. Given that it was fan voted, the fans are SCREAMING at Vince to make Bret champion again but he doesn’t seem to be listening.

• On the King’s Court, Jerry Lawler weirdly calls Bret Hart racist. Seriously. He says that Bret has made lots of nasty comments about Japan and Japanese people. Vince quickly says that there is no evidence of that. What’s that all about? He then brings out this week’s guest - the 1995 Royal Rumble Winner Shawn Michaels. The Heartbreak Kid says that he’s a marked man - everyone is so jealous of him that he’s under constant threat and so he needs a new bodyguard. He’s spent weeks looking for one and has now found the man for the job. Sid! He’s announced as just Sid, but he’s been known as Psycho Sid and Sid Vicious in the WWF and WCW. He’s a big muscular brute who looks like a million dollars, but is a famously terrible wrestler who excels at loud, shouty promos. He actually main evented Wrestlemania 8 with Hulk Hogan. Sid screams about how he has no feelings or remorse for any living soul and promises to be by Shawn Michaels’ side at all times. He seems unhinged, which is obviously the gimmick. Don’t call him Psycho though! 

• Making their Raw debut, Jacob and Eli Blu with their manager Uncle Zebekiah. That’s “dirty” Dutch Mantell who is one of those people in wrestling that everyone talks about as being legendary but who I’ve barely seen anything of. I assume his reputation comes from the olden days and he has a lot of friends and influence backstage. I have zero time for any of these three men - the Harris twins are full-on nazis with SS tattoos and Mantell is basically an old Southern racist too. They squash two jobbers, one of whom was black which is uncomfortable given what I’d just said about the three of them.

• Todd Pettengill interrupts the previous match in a split screen to break the big news that Lawrence Taylor himself will respond to Bam Bam Bigelow next week on Monday Night Raw! 
• In the main event, after a video showing Diesel attending various public events and being friends with lots of big sports stars, Diesel defends the WWF Championship against Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett. This is a fun match - Jarrett uses all his sneaky heel tactics to give Diesel the run-around and wriggle out of power moves and there’s a fun spot where Roadie tries to pull Jeff to safety but Diesel is too strong and drags them both into the ring. Good stuff. With a little bit of interference and distraction by The Roadie, Double J takes control with a shot to the ringpost and then focuses on the big man’s knee. Diesel perseveres and after Jackknifing Jarrett to retain the title, gives the Roadie one too for good measure. His celebration is cut short when Shawn Michaels and Sid come down the ramp to stare menacingly at him. The shooting of the segment is awkward as Jarrett and Roadie are massively in the way, and Diesel takes ages to notice Shawn and Sid are even there. After a commercial break, Jim Cornette is forced to interview them and acts very scared of Sid. Shawn doesn’t say much different from earlier.

Monday Night Raw  - February 27th 1995

• This is the 100th episode of Raw and it's a big one as they debut the WWF start of show signature which they’ve had in one form on another on every television show since, but also a new Monday Night Raw intro! 

• The big stuff announced for this special episode of Raw? A one on one match between Lex Lugar and Tatanka, and Lawrence Taylor responds to Bam Bam Bigelow personally. Lex has some pre-match comments directed at Tatanka, recapping the feud so far and letting us know that Chief Jay Strongbow will be in Lex’s corner after Tatanka actually attacked his hall of fame mentor on Superstars. Dibiase has Undertaker’s urn with him and looks SO happy to be a bad guy, cackling like a maniac about it. This is a long back and forth match and the fans are very into it but I have my suspicions that it’s fake crowd noise. Tatanka actually dominates Lex later in the match, cutting off all his comebacks and getting distracted with Chief Jay, pulling his headdress off. He gets chopped in the chest and thanks to some interference and distraction by the Chief, Lex gets back into the match. He hammers Tatanka and it takes him two attempts but the Native American gives up and just walks out on the match. Lugar wins by count out but doesn’t seem satisfied with his revenge.

• In a rematch from a battle royal on Superstars, Jerry Lawler avoided elimination by hopping around the ring on one foot. Bret Hart came out and stomped on his foot so he had to put the other one down and be eliminated. I guess that’s what he gets for calling him racist last week? 
• The King of Harts Owen Hart faces a jobber with a shaved head. Maybe the era of the mullet is over? Vince explains that Owen is looking for a Tag Team partner to challenge The Smoking Gunns for the titles. What happened to Jim Neidhart, I hear you ask? He’s gone again. As it happens, he’d already been fired by the time his pre-taped tag team championship tournament match with Owen had aired. He was fired for no-showing events. He no-showed them because he was still struggling with drug abuse and was a long way off getting clean. According to Bret’s book, Owen and Jim were supposed to win the Tag Team Championships which I do believe as the story of Owen copying Bret’s moves and accolades (like winning the King of the Ring) would be aided by him winning the Tag Titles with Bret’s old partner. Owen wins this with the Sharpshooter.
• Vince says that on the front page of the newspapers yesterday there were rumours about Lawrence Taylor fighting Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania. He refers to them all as rumours and then is joined via satellite by Taylor himself. Taylor seems a nice guy - he was only at the Royal Rumble for a good time and because he’s friends with Diesel. He meant no disrespect and wasn’t there to fight. He calls Bam Bam childish. He’s not a very good promo and Vince does his best to lead him through the right talking points. Bam Bam finally interjects himself and the conversation gets a little more heated - they’re not scared of each other. Interestingly, Lawrence insults the 1-2-3 Kid and says Bam Bam lost to a 13 year old, so Bigelow kicks off by saying he’s no 13 year old. The outcome is that Lawrence Taylor accepts Bigelow’s challenge to a match at Wrestlemania XI. Vince hypes up that Taylor will be at the big Wrestlemania press conference later on that week.

• Doink faces Rob Cook. Vince and Cornette spend the match talking about some random, disconnected news stories. I have no idea what they were talking about. Doink wins with the whoopee cushion off the top rope.
• Kama The Supreme Fighting Machine faces the unfortunately named Ken Raper. Kama shows off his moves with judo throws and slams and then ends it with a submission, all while shouting that he demands competition. 
• Next week on Raw, British Bulldog is facing Shawn Michaels so Vince and Jim speak to him from backstage. He isn’t worried about either Michaels or his new bodyguard Sid. He also mentions “what Shawn did to him at the Royal Rumble”. What, you mean beat you? It’s hardly Shawn’s fault that you turned your back on him! 
• The show ends with Todd giving us the big hard sell for tomorrow’s Wrestlemania Press Conference and all the superstars and celebrities who’ll be there, now including Lawrence Taylor. 

Monday Night Raw  - March 6th 1995

• Raw kicks off with the big main event promoted last week. Shawn Michaels with (don’t call him Psycho) Sid vs. Davey Boy Smith, The British Bulldog. Ths is a really good match which runs for about half the length of Raw itself. Bulldog uses power and strength as Shawn out-wrestles him. Standard stuff but done well. Shawn scores with the superkick out of nowhere to win this one. It doesn’t have a name yet but is very much established as his new finishing move. You can tell I enjoyed this because I hardly took any notes and just enjoyed watching it. 

• Todd Pettengill covers what happened at the Wrestlemania Press Conference. Two big matches are now locked in and official - Diesel has no more title defences until then so Big Daddy Cool vs. Shawn Michaels is set, and Lawrence Taylor formally accepted Bam Bam Bigelow’s challenge to a match at Wrestlemania. Bigelow’s performance is good here as he stays professional and doesn’t turn things physical, but looks very angry and ready to fight. Like he’s struggling to control himself. I appreciated it. During the next match, Vince mentions that Bam Bam will have Dibiase and the Million Dollar Corp in his corner, so Lawrence Taylor will have the “all pro team” with him.

• Mr. Bob Backlund takes on Buck Quartermain. Before the match, Backlund cuts a promo from backstage screaming like a maniac. During the match, Vince confirms a third match for Wrestlemania - Bob Backlund vs. Bret Hart in an I Quit match. That’s a first for the WWF and the only way to win is to make your opponent say “I Quit”. In other Bret Hart news, he’s facing Jerry Lawler next week on Raw. King is still claiming that Bret is a racist and he’ll prove it. Backlund wins this with the Chickenwing and true to his word from weeks ago, refuses to break the hold until he hears “I Quit, Mr. Backlund” so the referee has to break it up.

• Steven Dunne, one half of Well Dunne, with Harvey Whippleman faces Duke “The Dumpster” Droese. Jerry Lawler calls in during this match to talk about his match with Bret last week. He calls him gutless and a racist and promises to prove he’s a better wrestler than Bret next week. Lawler starts and/or ends every sentence with “Understand this…” or “do you understand?”. Yes Jerry, we understand. Duke wins and then after chasing off Dunne, finds a $100 bill in his trashcan. He reacts like he’s never seen money before and celebrates with it like it’s a championship belt. Weird.

Monday Night Raw  - March 13th 1995

• Raw continues to move towards a format with fewer squash matches. There’s two real matches tonight and the first one is Jacob and Eli Blu vs. former Tag Team Champions The Headshrinkers. The Blu Brothers have no problem dominating the Headshrinkers and Cornette does a good job of explaining its because Afa and Captain Lou aren’t here this week to provide guidance. It breaks down when Fatu tags in and the four men brawl on the outside until being counted out. The match is a draw. During this match I noticed that the referee was wearing the black and white stripes, replacing the pale blue shirt and bowtie they had been wearing. Another small cosmetic change which has been this way ever since so it feels important! 
• Vince hypes up which NFL players will be at Wrestlemania in Lawrence Taylor’s corner for his match with Bam Bam Bigelow. The only one I’ve heard of is Steve McMichael, because this appearance led to him having a surprisingly long wrestling career in WCW. McMichael makes an appearance and says he’s heard that Kama is making comments about him so he’ll be on Raw next week to confront him. Alright then? It seems Kama has now joined the Million Dollar Man’s stable of wrestlers, confirmed by their own promo afterwards. Given that the focus is on Bam Bam I am confused why Tatanka is in the middle. Each member of the group calls out one specific member of the NFL team to set up their own confrontation. I’ll mention here that in between Raws, King Kong Bundy vs. The Undertaker was made official for Wrestlemania. I’m sure we’ll hear more on that later.

• Jeff Jarrett defends the Intercontinental Championship against long time jobber Barry Horowitz. Bizarrely, they interview Barry before the match and he says he’s been getting some tips from Razor Ramon. Jarrett works on his leg and wins by submission, but Horowitz did get in more offense than normal too.

• During the Wrestlemania Report, in between plugging which celebrities will be there, there are some new matches added to the show including an Intercontinental and Tag Team Championship match, as well as the debut of a brand new dream tag team - Lex Lugar and British Bulldog. I’ll talk more about that in future. 

• When Jerry Lawler enters for the main event he has Bull Nakano in his corner. Jim Cornette flips out and says this proves that the Japanese are on Lawler’s side and that Bret Hart is a racist just like King has been claiming. Lawler jumps Bret as soon as he gets in the ring, not even letting his pyro finish. Lawler gets control thanks to various distractions by Bret’s enemies. Bob Backlund is shown watching the match from the crowd, and Hakushi and Shinja come out to the top of the entrance way to watch the match too which Cornette takes as further evidence that Hart is as racist as Lawler has been claiming. The fans chant “burger king” at him. The finish comes when after Bret mounts his comeback, Bull Nakano grabs his ankle on the outside and causes him to get counted out. Jerry Lawler wins by count out and quickly leaves so Bret celebrates with the crowd anyway. 

• At the end of the show, Intercontinental Champion Double J accepts Barry Horowitz challenge to a rematch next week. Horowitz is about to sign the paperwork when he's attacked from behind by Bob Backlund. Mr. Backlund then signs the contract himself and that means that before Wrestlemania Jeff Jarrett has to defend the IC title against Mr. Bob Backlund! Jeff seems very upset - that wasn’t he and Backlund’s plan!

Monday Night Raw  - March 20th 1995

• Razor Ramon faces Henry O Godwin in the opener. Vince mentions that while Razor has an Intercontinental title match with Jeff Jarrett at Wrestlemania, after the way Raw ended last week that is now in jeopardy as Bob Backlund might win the title before then. This is a big physical match and Cornette does a good job of putting over Henry and his strong performance against The Undertaker last month. As this match progresses, The Roadie comes down to the ring for a closer look but it makes no difference and Razor picks up the win with the Razor’s Edge. After the match, the 1-2-3 Kid comes out to flank his buddy as Vince McMahon interviews him. Razor is angry - the Intercontinental title is HIS and now he might lose it to Bob Backlund, which would mean his match with Jarrett is non-title and Bret Hart gets his championship match! 

• The Backlund vs. Jarrett Intercontinental title match as well as Lex Lugar vs. Tatanka in a steel cage match will take place at Sunday Night Slam. I can’t cover it as it’s not available online anywhere that I can locate so I’ll cover the results next week.
• There’s a lot of recaps of other things on this show as Vince energetically narrates a replay from the Action Zone of Bam Bam Bigelow defeating Doink the Clown and then showing off his football skills with a big running tackle on him while being cheered on by his Million Dollar teammates. 

• Jim Cornette leaves commentary as his managed team of the Heavenly Bodies has a Tag Team title match later. He's replaced by NFL player Steve McMichael who gets a decent reaction from the crowd. He’s got a lot of charisma and gets a couple of laughs out of Vince. 
• King Kong Bundy faces two jobbers at once in a handicap match and has no problem with them, of course. He has a match with The Undertaker to get ready for. Bundy wins without any issues and then Kama comes out to confront McMichael. It almost immediately turns physical and the two of them start shoving and taking each other down. Kama’s supreme fighting machine gimmick goes up in tatters and McMichael has no problem taking him down a couple of times. The fight is broken up by referees and officials and they’re kept apart. McMichael knows how to sell a PPV as he shouts “I’ll see you at Wrestlemania!” He gets it. 

• In the Wrestlemania Report, Todd throws to comments from Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker about their respective matches and brings us no new information but LOTS of celebrities names.

• In the main event, The Smoking Gunns defend the Tag Team titles against the Heavenly Bodies. Last week after defeating Men on a Mission on Superstars, Mabel and Mo attacked Billy and Bart apparently turning heel but this week Oscar issued an apology on behalf of himself and MoM so maybe not a heel turn? More on that to come in future I’m sure. It’s weird having Vince call this entire match solo - he does a good job. It’s a very back and forth match. It’s not bad but it’s not great either. The Bodies come close to winning the gold more than once but Bart and Billy’s gimmick has become how tough they are. Billy reverses a backslide into one of his own to pin Jimmy Del Ray and retain the titles. 
• In the closing segment, a big match is promoted for next week’s Raw; Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart in a No Holds Barred match. So I guess next week’s Raw isn’t the usual recap of the Sunday Night Slam. Fun but also a shame given that I can’t find Sunday Night Slam anywhere online to watch. Hopefully Vince does a good job of recapping it for me.

Monday Night Raw  - March 27th 1995

• Raw kicks off with the return of Jim Ross! He’s back, and this time he’s not going anywhere. It’s JR and Gorilla Monsoon on commentary, with Vince and Todd Pettengill in the studio to talk about Wrestlemania XI. Todd in particular looks very happy to be on TV and in the hosting chair for once. Gorilla and Vince have a little fun teasing Todd which I enjoyed. 

• There’s a recap of the Shawn Michaels and Diesel feud so far starting all the way back in 1993 with Big Daddy Cool’s debut. Last night on Sunday Night Slam, Vince interviewed Diesel in the ring and it was interrupted by Shawn and Sid. Michaels has recently been making a lot of insider comments and references about not laying down, and how he’s the best performer “and Vince McMahon knows it” which was odd given that he wasn’t the owner of the company on TV at the time. It continues here as he tells Diesel that he will “be going over” at Wrestlemania. 

• The other big match; Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor gets a big recap too. In other Sunday Night Slam news, Bam Bam defeated Headshrinker Sionne. Todd and Vince talk a lot about whether Bam Bam can out-brawl an NFL player, or whether Lawrence Taylor can out-wrestle a WWF Superstar. They give a lot of attention to the potential fighting on the outside with the NFL all star team and the Million Dollar Corporation being out there.
• Jim Ross interviews Mr. Bob Backlund but when he starts to rant, JR cuts him off and sends it back to Todd and Vince. They recap the build up to Backlund vs. Bret at Wrestlemania - a feud that has technically been going since last summer but has very much been off the boil since Survivor Series sadly. On Sunday Night Slam, Backlund almost won the Intercontinental title from Jeff Jarrett but Razor Ramon interfered, not wanting to lose his own title shot at Wrestlemania. He paid for it by being locked in the Crossface Chickenwing as Double J kicked and stomped away at his ribs. 
• Todd and Vince chat about Bret Hart and how close he is to snapping. He’s being needled by Owen, by Backlund, by Lawler, by Hakushi….he’s close to losing control, but Todd thinks he’ll be able to channel all of that into more focus. That leads into the one and only match on Raw; a no holds barred match between brothers Bret and Owen. Will Bob Backlund interfere? Probably but let's find out. This is, unsurprisingly, a very good match. It’s a really physical fight inside and outside the ring with some very nice spots including Bret’s now trademark beautiful piledriver. Owen escapes the first Sharpshooter attempt with a thumb to the eye but after sending his little brother’s head into an exposed turnbuckle, turns him over into the Sharpshooter for the submission victory. Bret doesn’t want to break the hold and punishes his brother, even shouting “kiss my ass” at the referee for trying to stop him. He eventually breaks the hold and Gorilla and JR really put over Bret’s new, more aggressive attitude.

• The show ends with a hard sell for Wrestlemania including Todd explaining how to order the show on PPV for people who don’t know, and Vince really hammering home the NFL involvement in the show.