Since there is a Nitro Review thread , I have decided to go back and do a RAW Review thread. The only difference is ...I won't go back to January 1993. No I plan to skip ahead to September 11th , 1995 actually. To where the MONDAY NIGHT WAR began.
WWF Monday Night RAW - September 11th , 1995
Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon
RAW opens with the plug "The World Wrestling Federation , for over 50 years ...." plug. While its true Vince's grandfather formed the territory in the 1940's/50's , the WWWF wouldn't come to exist as a solo ran promotion til 1960's. But hey , the WWF was the establishment folks. Then we go to Summerslam from 2 weeks ago as Vince verbally goes bonkers over this ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. "The heart , the desire , the intestinal fortitude of both men !!" It comes across as a Mick Foley parody now.
Vince plugs the action of the new Generation of WWF superstars. McMahon plugs that fresh off that hot match between Michaels and Ramon , HBK has to face Psycho Sid Vicious tonight. While Ramon has the challenge of an angry British Bulldog who 2 weeks earlier jumped Diesel and gave him a beat down. Vince fresh off the challenge of WCW Nitro proclaims this is the NEW FALL SEASON of WWF RAW.
RAW opens with the weirdest intro I have seen in years. In fact I don't remember it ...but the intro is a song called "I Like It Rough" and we see Shawn Michaels doing a dance routine on the roof with people racing to fence wanting RAW. Then cop cars and finally the show begins as Jerry Lawler and Vince McMahon welcome us to Monday Night Raw.
Right up off the bat is Razor who 2 weeks earlier encountered Dean Douglas who told The Dean he was "all fluff , no stuff" at Summerslam. He gave him a smack in the face. Out coming to the ring is the British Bulldog who as Lawler claims has a new streamlined look after cutting his oily stringy hair. Jim Cornette is his manager. Before the match , Razor throws a toothpick in his face.
This match starts off pretty solid as Bulldog shows his skills , he was pretty damn agile for his size. But Ramon has the attitude and comically does his paint brushing arm bar submission. Lawler at this point was pure heel announcer mode and supported the heels fully. McMahon himself wonders how healthy Ramon can be after his hard fought ladder match as Bulldog takes advantage with power moves.
Ramon fights back and makes the comeback , then throws Bulldog by accident into the referee. Then after a Razor's Edge , he waits for the pin as out comes Dean Douglas. Shane delivers a flying ax handle across the back from Douglas. Then the 1-2-3 Kid arrives and takes an ass kicking from Douglas for his trouble. Bulldog makes the cover and 1-2-3 Kid recovers and tries a flying body splash and lands across his buddy Razor. This leads into Bulldog beating down the Kid and Razor , as both are left laying .
In ring after commercial Vince McMahon decides to interview them both . McMahon brings up that Ramon will face Douglas at In Your House in a couple weeks. Then its claimed that the referee called a DQ on the Kid for climbing the top rope and awarded the match to Bulldog. So obviously this is insane because I always heard if you actually touch the guy you get DQ'd in pro wrestling. Anyhow ole Vinnie Mac seems to bring up how the Kid cost his pal the match and the Kid counters that Ramon cost him a match last week.
The Kid wants the retrospect from Ramon his best friend who he believes that Razor is treating him like a little kid out there. So he challenges him to a match next week. Ramon plugs that anything can happen in the W-W-F now and brings up his classic ladder match and Dean Douglas. But what is distracting as all hell is Lawler's commentary. Its the most idiotic piece happening as the angle in ring is being distracted as Lawler chimes in over the guys. Why he won't wait til this segment is over is beyond me , but he keeps talking every few seconds and its taken away from the segment.
Ramon claims his little buddy he made famous wants a piece of him one more time , he's gonna do it. He says if everyone wants it , he will face the Kid next week. Then we go right to a promo vignette where Yokozuma & Owen Hart will face Men on a Mission . Yoko and Owen were WWF World Tag team champions and WWF President at the time Gorilla Monsoon made this match to shake things up basically. They will meet next week.
Up next in action is the Smoking Gunns facing Rad Radford and the Brooklyn Brawler. The bad guy heels try jumping Billy and Bart quickly , but pay the price. Rad Radford was supposed to be a grunge wrestler ala the cool Raven from ECW and failed. Radford if you look closely is Louie Spicolli. During this match , McMahon decides to wish Tom Landry a happy birthday for god knows what reason. Lawler rips that and claims like the wrestlers in ring , this is a NEW GENERATION out there. Billy and Bart beat the jobber team.
In a weird vignette we see Goldust over looking Hollywood or whatever city they are in. Goldust claims that there are ghouls out at night and its the creatures of the night. That they follow the Undertaker. Gold has no darkness , it shines only light . As he claims he will face Undertaker soon.
Out next to compete is Dr. Issac Yankem as we see a replay from Summerslam where him and Lawler tried taking Bret Hart out. Yankem is facing Scotty Taylor and even delivers a choke slam that looks familiar. Yankem is pretty lean and quick out there , wrestling in his medical jogging type pants. He then delivers the D.D.S , which is basically his version of the D.D.T. finisher.
Todd Pettengill is up to discuss the In Your House PPV coming September 24th. If anyone hasn't forgotten him , picture the most uncool guy next to Michael Cole , multiply it by 100. The Toddster (his own nickname for himself) tried to be a cool guy but came across so lame , I questioned my humanity. Anyhow the big plug at this In Your House was the Triple Headed tag match. Where Diesel , Shawn Michaels would face Yokozuma and Owen Hart. Whoever won , they'd get that title. All the belts were on the line.
End of Part 1