WWF Monday Night RAW Review thread

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - November 20th , 1995



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler and Vince McMahon

We get a Last Night at Survivor Series run down of pictures of what Vince McMahon called the greatest WWF World Championship match. He also claims it was a crossroads in a sense for both men. Bret as Vince claims seemed over matched next to Diesel. But then outta nowhere Bret rolled Diesel into a small package as he tried for his finisher (jackknife Power Bomb). He gets the win and Diesel gets pissed after it and beats down some referees and then does it to Bret. The 1 year reign of the lowest drawing WWF World Champion comes to an end.

Tonight we will see Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart . Michaels was successful in his return to WWF action last night. Also we saw the return of Mr. Perfect. 1,2,3 Kid is shown as Ted Dibiase helped his new guy win at the Survivor Series. The Kid also cost Razor his match at the Survivor Series. We see the Kid backstage with Dibiase as he's facing Hakushi.

The fans are HOT against The Kid as they chant Razor loudly. Pissing the Kid off as he tries to focus on Hakushi. Over the phone Vince speaks to Razor Ramon. He thought the Kid was like a brother to him. But he sold him out. He took the money . But the Kid should know just what A Bad Guy he can be. He's gonna discover it soon. Then he claims the Kid is small change to him.

The match is doing ok and out runs Marty Jannetty in a slow jog. A jog so slow the referees can catch him like they are supposed to before he can crawl into the ring and get at the Kid. In ring the Kid is using a cool neck submission move on Hakushi and stays in control of this match. McMahon announces that Diesel is on his way to the arena. Hakushi is a pretty solid guy in ring and his hand spring Muta style elbow into the corner turnbuckle was a nice move that fans popped for .

In ring as Hakushi is dominating the match and showcasing his moves , 1,2,3 Kid is knocked outta the ring. Hakushi tries to go to the top rope and jump to the outside as the referee has his back turned. This allows Ted Dibiase to climb up and throw Hakushi off in ring. The Kid nails his finisher and its over. After stuffing some $1,000 bills in Kid's hands , they talk to Jerry Lawler post match.

Lawler claims that the Kid is perhaps Ted's greatest acquisition to his company. Dibiase claims he bought him a partner , he bought him a match to win and more. I half expected Dibiase claim he bought him some women or something. As Ted taunts Jannetty and Ramon this finally brings out Marty to confront the Kid. Behind him trailing is Psycho Sid as I question how Sid knew Marty was gonna come outta the back again so quick ? Anyhow Sid claims if Jannetty wants the Kid he's gonna have to go through him.

This sets off a brief fight where Sid destroys Marty and power bombs him outside the ring on the floor. Its there that Sid tells Marty you don't screw with....THE MASTER.....THE RULER......OF THE WORLD. Its clear Marty now knows Sid is that. Backstage to Dok Hendrix who is so insanely pumped over the Survivor Series stuff I'm stunned. This was a guy who wore a rebel flag robe to the ring and he's so insane over Undertaker's return. He promotes the December 17th , In Your House PPV where British Bulldog will face Bret Hart for the WWF World Title.

The Bulldog cuts a promo on how Bret should know what he's capable of doing at doing to him. That he beat him at Summerslam 1992 in front of 80,000+ people. That he will come to the scum of the Earth in Hershey Park , PA. Dok returns as he promotes the Hog Pen match at In Your House between Hunter Hearst Helmsley facing Henry Godwinn. Then we see Diesel arrive backstage.

In ring is Skip from the Bodydonna's with Sunny as backstage we see Shawn Michaels talking to his pal , Big Daddy Cool. After commercial Savio Vega comes out to face Skip as salesman Barry D. is pitching WWF stuff. This week Barry is selling Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart's face on some blue jean jackets. For the price of $59.75 , you can purchase those jackets people. Please....please send Vince money damn it !

This match has been pretty on from the start as both Savio Vega and Skip are doing pretty decent in ring together. This match however is short lived as Big Daddy Cool strolls to the ring as Skip is outside. He shove him across the floor . Then he gets on the mic and decides to come out and discuss things from last nights PPV. He asks people are wanting a possible apology from him for what he did to Bret or his fans. Then Diesel brings up for the 1st time in year he slept like a baby. That when he woke up , for the 1st time in a year , he had a smile on his face.

Then Diesel runs down how Vince McMahon made him a damn corporate puppet and wanting him smiling to sell merch. That he's free to be himself like he was a couple years in Providence. That he only cares about family and friends which he claims is Shawn Michaels. But he's not gonna stop slapping hands. If that hand has a black glove on it , he will slap that hand. And as he leaves Diesel does that very thing as his music hits. He only slaps those who have black gloves.

The next night vignette airs as on PPV they will replay Survivor Series 1995. We then get a promo of next week's show on RAW which will have a rematch of Kama vs Undertaker. At this point Kama had taken Taker's urn and melted it down into a gold chain to taunt the dead man with. Brother Love will return next week to interview Bret Hart.

Up next is the Main Event of Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart as Vince nearly goes bonkers over Shawn. I think he's gonna jump in ring and wanna personally dance with him to the ring. The match begins with some classic technical mat wrestling by Owen and Shawn. With reversals and more. Then things break loose as Shawn starts his high flying move set onto Owen. His mid leap into a frankensteiner is pretty damn awesome and shows just how agile and spectacular he could be in the mid 1990's peak.

Vince himself decides to make it hoodlums now , as they have seemingly spent a week or two moving the story away from the 10 Marines. The King of Hearts takes heel control and starts beating down on Shawn. This match moves along as Shawn has brief rallies back and the two men keep this one pretty damn solid. In a cool spot Owen tries a super plex and Shawn manages to reverse it and lands on top of him off the turnbuckle.

Then as things look bleak for Shawn later , he does the kip up as it stuns Owen enough for Shawn to take control. But then Owen does a brutal side kick to the back of Shawn's head as control changes again in this match. A minute later the momentum changes again and suddenly as Shawn celebrates being in control to the fans....he collapses in ring. Earl Hebner is the referee and is confused at what to do here. He takes his foot and nudges him and even Owen acts concerned and stops.

Vince McMahon climbs into the ring with the EMT's to check on Shawn as lies knocked out. Things go silent as no one is announcing on TV at all over this . Lawler even acts concerned. The women in the crowd look to be near weeping over this as Gorilla Monsoon and others are out there right now. The children remain confused as they don't understand any of this. Diesel demands the guys do something as they tell him he's ok right now. The show ends right there.


The Bad - This RAW featured 3 matches and while beyond 2 ended without a finish , they were ok matches. This RAW had no real weak parts as Vince was starting his build to Wrestlemania 12.


OVERALL : **** outta 5. Many have mused when Vince McMahon was 1st really deemed a bad guy and where the Attitude Era possibly had its real beginning. On November 20th , 1995 you can point here. Diesel basically outs Vince McMahon as owner and blames him for how he tried to make him a corporate champion. People were stunned then as McMahon had never really acted like much of the owner of the World Wrestling Federation. He seemed to be more of an announcer. This changed right here. The buildup of Shawn Michaels and his heart of a champion run began with this RAW. It would carry him to Wrestlemania 12.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - November 27th , 1995



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

We see Vince discuss Shawn Michaels collapse on RAW in vignettes. The worked angle is to get Shawn over more as a babyface as we can see. Vince brings up the reminder of the physical toll it costs being a WWF Superstar. Then we go to the opening of RAW.

The Undertaker vs Kama is tonight as this one is basically the Takers last shot at getting the urn back . Or what remains of the urn as Kama had made it a necklace around his neck. As you folks can tell this is during Undertaker's brief mask period as he was selling Mabel crushing his face a month ago on RAW. Rad Radford (aka Louie Spicolli) is out to face Ahmed Johnson in the opening match.

Ahmed as Vince proclaims is ALL BUSINESS , ALL THE TIME. He looks ready to destroy Rad , who was basically doing a horrible version of what Vince McMahon thought the grunge age culture was in the early and mid 1990's. To start the match Radford pretty much spells doom on himself by jumping Ahmed from behind. This just ticks off Johnson who beats and throws him outta the ring. During the match in the crowd is Bob Backlund campaigning for President.

At this point in the WWF , Ahmed was undefeated and was pretty damn spectacular. He delivers a Booker T ax kick to Radford's head. Then does another one as he stands. Vince promotes a match at In Your House where Dean Douglas would face Ahmed Johnson. Its no shock that Johnson finishes off Radford in devastating fashion with his impact spin buster and then his tiger bomb finisher. Ahmed clearly is a total package as Lawler claims he wants to go interview the young man and discuss his match up with Dean. Brains vs Braun.

Lawler tries to act all arrogant at first as Ahmed gives him a look. Then Lawler starts to make the mistake of doing bad jokes and its pissing off Ahmed more. He looks ready to destroy Lawler , Dean Douglas comes out. Its there Shane rips a promo claiming that if he wants to become the FUTURE OF THE WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION ....he needs to simply step inside his classroom in ring and learn some things. Ahmed tells him he's all ready for his classroom punk and slides into the ring throwing off his gloves to go !

The referees run out to keep Douglas away from Ahmed as things look ready to explode any second. Vince wants them to turn him loose so they can go at it. Ahmed taunts him as Shane tries to get in there. Vince promotes Undertaker/Kama and we go to another WWF Tour-de-Force of cards coming to places. When we return Jerry Lawler eats a Twix bar and then Vince discusses the medical condition of Shawn Michaels after his beating of 9 thugs now.

Vince claims in the medical report that Shawn was suffering from Post Concussion Syndrome. do to his concussion which gave hims headaches and more. That he took numerous blows for two nights on his return and then collapsed and lost consciousness. But never fret people , Vince assures us that Shawn Michaels will return soon and compete again !

Up next is a WWF Women's match as Aja Kong & Tomoko Watanabe will face Alundra Blayze and her partner Kyoko Inoue. Aja Kong is actually Erika Shishido who grew up and trained in Japan. She has competed mostly there her entire career. Not much is known of Watanabe . She is still wrestling and turned pro at 17. And finally Blayze's partner Kyoko Inoue is pretty accomplished as well in Japan. In reading she is the 1st woman in Japan to hold a men's championship as well as founding Neo Japan.

Before the match begins Barry Didinsky is out peddling WWF wares for a buck. He wants to sell a new Bret Hart t-shirt which wouldn't be so bad if it was just Bret's picture on it. Instead it has all 3 WWF World Titles pictures on it , his catchphrase and illustrations on it. Barry tells us for the great price of $20.00 we can own that shirt. In ring the ladies start the match as we cut away from Barry's sell job.

Kong and Watanabe jump Blayze and Inoue to start the match as Vince decides to spend the opening minutes making fun of Aja Kong's look as claiming she looks like a smo . The Japanese women wrestlers are actually hitting and being harder in ring to each other than Vince's own stars . Blayze decides to show she can be just as hard style and pulls Watanabe across the ring by her hair and slams her face into the turnbuckle.

In a cool spot Watanabe tries to do a move off the top turnbuckle and predating John Cena by 10 years , Inoue runs over and arm drags her off the top rope. This match has been pretty damn fun thus far as all 4 clearly are showing what they can do. Momentum has went back and forth and in a weird spot for sure in this match , Vince decides to possibly mock Kong's appearance by claiming she's a supporter of safe sex and condoms. I'm like...what ?

Kong then drops Inoue on her f'n head brutally as Vince misses calling the wicked spots to discuss Princess Di. Kong seems to check on Inoue by tapping her face to see if she's ok and then nails her finisher to end this brutal awesome match. A match so completely ruined by Vince's announcing , he jokes with Lawler if he would like to face any of those ladies. Blayze checks on her partner post match.

We get a replay of Diesel snapping on Bret Hart at Survivor Series and using his finisher on him post match. Then he beats down some referees. Gorilla Monsoon its claimed reprimanded and fined him. Last week is shown where he came out and won't apologize to Bret or anyone. The clips are shown and Vince's whole deal about being owner of the company is not seen. Just the spot about the suits at Titans Tower wanted him to smile more and be more politically correct. Lawler himself brings up how the comments towards Vince was edited out as Vince quickly cuts in and claims , they were deeply personal and not needed.

Out comes Bruce Pichard as Brother Love as yes folks , the character of an annoying televangelist is still on. Prichard had a hell of a run in the WWF/E and was employed for 22 years . From onscreen roles to writing the episodes and being part of creative. Tonight on the Brother Love Show , he will interview Bret Hart as fans pop and Vince goes into how many are gunning for him. Brother Love goes , "They call youuuuu Hit Man right ? Maybe they shoooould call you Marked Man as everyone waaaants you."

Love brings up how Diesel is possibly his toughest match up and he won't let Bret talk. Then Love brings up WWF history from where he actually is the one who introduced the Undertaker. But he's pushing Bret's buttons more and more. Then Love does the absolute wrong thing , he starts accusing Bret of letting his mother cry repeatedly. As Love tries to jerk the mic away , Bret grabs his arm and he cuts a promo on living til he's dying. Then tells Diesel how cheap he is for what he did after the bell.


END OF PART #1

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Then he says he will cross the Undertaker bridge when it comes. He looks at Love who starts to mention Bulldog as Hart warns Love he better not ever mention his mother again. Then Bret brings up how yes , Bulldog was the better man at Summerslam 1992 , but that was 3 years ago and come this In Your House he's gonna redeem himself. And proves he's the THE BEST THERE IS , THE BEST THERE WAS , AND THE BEST THERE EVER WILL BE. As the segment looks to be ending and Love is getting in Bret's face , outta nowhere comes Bob Backlund who jumps him and locks on the cross arm chicken wing finisher as Love taunts him !

Backlund yells how Bret is a disgrace and acts insane as ever. He releases the move finally as referees get in ring. After we return from commercial , Vince claims that Bret is pissed backstage . In ring we see Hunter Hearst Hemlsley as above we see he will face Henry Godwinn who cuts a promo introducing all his pigs that will be at Survivor Series . Helmsley will be facing jobber John Chrystal in this match. This match doesn't last long , long enough for you to go grab a soda and return.

At In Your House ; Marty Jannetty/Razor Ramon will face Psycho Sid/1,2,3 Kid. In a promo Jim Cornette claims that Owen Hart has not found anyone to challenge him since what he did to Shawn Michaels. He has an open challenge to anyone at In Your House and can't wait to see what person signs it so he can put them in the hospital the same way he did Michaels.

The main event is up finally as Kama comes out on crutches , scared shitless of the Undertaker's wraith. Ted Dibiase gets on the mic and claims his man Kama is hurt bad from injuries and he's bought another WWF superstar to face Taker. So he's paid for Sir Mo as you have to wonder if the money was that damn good to wanna be destroyed.

After a promo promoting Dean Douglas vs Razor Ramon for the IC Title for next weeks RAW , we finally get the arrival of the Undertaker. The darkness of the Undertaker is immense as Dibiase , Kama and Sir Mo all look ready to die. Mo is starting to debate taking the payoff from Ted for this one as he charges at Undertaker and pays the price.

Then Taker is dumped outta the ring and grabs Dibiase as Kama shows there is nothing wrong with him as both men beat down Undertaker. The fans start a very loud REST IN PEACE chant as Mo stays on Undertaker a lot. The tide turns once Undertaker regains his strength. Then he goes outside and takes out Kama for the pure hell of it. Kama and Dibiase run like hell after this realizing that Undertaker isn't gonna be stopped. Leaving Sir Mo to suffer.

King Mabel comes out and Undertaker after finishing off Sir Mo retrieves his melted down urn that was a chain. He dares Mabel to come into ring but he won't . Then out comes Yokozuna who Undertaker is ready for. He does make the mistake of handing back the chain to Paul Bearer who is mugged by Mabel. Undertaker follows hell bent on destroying King Mabel.


The Bad - When a group of women from Japan is your best match on a RAW , you know things aren't good. Beyond the feuds Vince was selling and the shocking attack by Backlund , this RAW was pretty lackluster. Again the fact that Vince promotes something hard , then yanks it away was becoming a silly trend and hurting his show. I even doubt next week we get that IC Title match he promoted tonight between Razor Ramon/Dean Douglas.

The funniest part of this is the fact that RAW had a very solid show last week , yet suddenly went back to being its usual spot. Vince editing himself outta be named the owner of the company was pretty damn silly as well.

OVERALL : **1/2 outta 5. Skip past the jobber matches and Main Event til the end. The only cool things was the attack on Bret Hart by Bob Backlund as ya knew that score was gonna be settled soon. Also watch the women's match on RAW. Those ladies showed more fire than most of the male roster had at this stage.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - December 4th , 1995





Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon promotes the IC title match between Razor Ramon and Dean Douglas. He questions if the 15 second champion can beat the 4 time champion in Ramon. Marty Jannetty meanwhile wants The Kid , but he's gotta go through Sid. Its then we see Sid whisper about how if he wants the 1,2,3 Kid ...he's gotta go through him. Marty vows to light him up. Then Vince shows the doctor of Shawn Michaels , Jeffrey Unger.

The 1st match out of the gate is Bob "Sparkplugg" Holly. As he decided to take a pit stop and face the British Bulldog . The Bulldog is wearing the full flag of his home country which is pretty cool. People love to joke about Holly's mullet he was growing and this one is in awesome shape and he's in control at the start of this match. Which isn't half bad. Cornette outside accuses Holly of pulling hair.

The tide turns quick as Bulldog uses his power and picks up Holly and drops him across the top rope. McMahon and Lawler promote the December "In Your House" PPV match where Bulldog will face Bret Hart for the WWF World title. They tease how this will effect the family as both guys go at it in ring. You can see cracks in the nice Spark Plugg persona that Bob was supposed to play as Bulldog begs off and he keeps beating on. Eventually Bob misses a splash in the corner and eats a running power slam from Bulldog for the win.

Out in the fans is crazy Bob Backlund who Vince shows the past week snapped and jumped Bret Hart last Monday. Then he jumped on Jim Ross this past week. Lawler realizes what a loose cannon Backlund is and won't call him Bobby Backlund as he did earlier. Lawler informs Backlund that the WWF World title won't be on the line as Bob flips insane. Screaming ..."I WANNA BE GOD AGAIN !!" Then he rants and raves over what bad standards that Hitman is in today and we as a country don't need more Hitmen. Its wild insane as McMahon finally cuts his mic.

At the commercial break Backlund demands to know who cut his mic. Lawler begs off saying he didn't as Bob climbs over the ring rail and goes to the back looking for the WWF sound guy . In ring is "Making a Difference Fatu" facing the Brooklyn Brawler. The fans aren't as into Making a Difference Fatu. Vince promotes the WWF Hotline and Jim Ross condition after the beating he took from Backlund on WWF Superstars. The match ends quick as Fatu dances away.

Backstage we see Dok Hendrix who promotes the Owen Hart open contract. As Dok is about to tell us who took up Owen's challenge , we cut to insane Bob Backlund who suddenly pulls up the WWF Sound guy and starts beating him up and locks in the chicken wing finisher. Dok claims that Gorilla Monsoon needs to do something about this and announces that Diesel has signed to take on Owen Hart at "In Your House".

Dean Douglas is out and I believe this is near the last appearance of Shane in the company. He is facing Razor Ramon as things start off heated as Shane slaps the taste outta Ramon's mouth while Razor throws the tooth pick in his face. Comically I watched Razor's shoot interview and like usually everything regarding his Clique pals and them trying to rewrite history , they try to paint over the crap they did to guys. Shane claims what a solid worker Razor was when he wanted to be , while Razor got mad that Shane dared to talk about something and claims how lousy a worker he was (insert laughter).

Dean is having problems with his back as he slams Ramon and holds his back. He concentrates on working over Razor's back in this match. Razor isn't giving Dean anything (which sums up the Clique's politics towards people they don't like). The match ends so damn quick , its not even an IC Title match and more of a squash. I can see why Shane was like ...**** this **** and left the company soon after.

We get a promo of next weeks Bob Backlund vs Bret Hart match where their history is shown. In ring is Brother Love who will introduce the man who will be facing the Undertaker at In Your House. Its King Mabel and he even gets carried out for an interview segment folks. As a way to piss off the Undertaker even more , Mabel is wearing the gold chain which are remnants of the Taker's urn. Brother Love brings up how he's missing Sir Mo this week.

Mabel isn't happy over that but claims he is the 1st man to put Taker outta action and pin his shoulders to the mat. Brother Love claims he has a good surprise for him as King Mabel isn't at all happy and hates surprises. The Undertaker's music hits as a big casket is being led to the ring as Mabel is scared . Slowly coming to the edge to see what is there. Surprise #1 is Sir Mo as Mabel thinks that he's turned Mo against him and then the reveal that they have painted over the casket of the Undertaker.

Mabel laughs and gloats over what he plans to do to the Undertaker at In Your House at their casket match. Backstage we see Razor Ramon who coaches Marty to chop that big Psycho down like a tree , chico. After a commercial break Vince promotes the next big deal ...THE RAW BOWL coming January 1st 1996.

Out comes Psycho Sid to start his match against Marty Jannetty , which oddly is now a Main Event ? Really ? Not Ramon vs Dean Douglas for the IC Championship ? Barry is selling new cardboard cutouts of Diesel and Undertaker. Claiming they are 7 foot tall and you can have them at your breakfast table and more ....all for the grand price of $25 bucks.

Marty starts off like a house of fire as he is in control to start the match until Psycho Sid uses his power. In a cool scene crawls and talks right in Marty's face about being ...THE MASTER....AND THE RULER....OF THE WORLD ! In one cool spot Jannetty runs over and nails a Buff Bagwell type blockbuster on Sid from the top turnbuckle. Jannetty sells good for Sid as he nails a running clothesline and decapitates him nearly. As the match goes along , out comes the Kid who jumps Jannetty outside .

This brings out Razor who chases the Kid and Dibiase into the ring as the referee rings the bell to end this. Razor chases after The Kid into the fans and outside as Sid uses this as a chance to power bomb Jannetty post match as punishment. Sid claims as he walks back , "I'm sorry....you forced me to do that Jannetty !"

Dr. Jeffrey R. Unger is seen and deeply concerned as he saw him collapse while watching RAW. Unger is an actual doctor I googled but I doubt again how real this is and he's being paid to actually discuss post concussion syndrome. Its really sick in a way since real football players and wrestlers have suffered badly from concussions and not someone who is doing it to sell a reason why he couldn't put someone over. The fact the WWF puts over how he's worked and taken beatings and more through 1995.

Unger then claims how Shawn has not progressed well neurologically and he may never return. Vince then cuts a vignette about his WWF Superstars and how we don't feel pain being so larger then life. Then it took how Shawn collapsed like a human and more. This is so insanely comical since after this Vince would have guys work with bad knees , neck , and more ....than what Shawn had at this point. The next bad spot is Vince blames us ...the fans for pushing Shawn to perform like he does. He questions if...and how he should return.


The Bad - Go watch Scott Hall's shoot that is recent this past year and now watch this RAW. Its pretty damn clear the Clique had more stroke in this company and was forcing Vince into some mind numbing dumb moves. His big IC Championship match which should main event his RAW ...pushed to the middle and booked like a squash match.

Meanwhile Marty Jannetty vs Psycho Sid , a mid card match at best is booked as a Main Event. There is nothing in that , that screamed main event of RAW honestly. And how does RAW end ...a verbal kissing of Shawn and the man he was. In an angle to gain sympathy due to the fact he refused to do a job to someone.

This RAW started off promising with Bulldog vs Holly , which was a decent opening match and then basically went off the rails Clique buddy insane. Why was this Shawn Michaels , doctor piece in the end hour ? Couldn't they have done this in the middle ? Vince's words now is more sad since his workers long after this competed in beat up bodies and more and he didn't seem to mind.


OVERALL : *1/2 Outta 5. This RAW had Bob Backlund and a nice opening match then went off the rails badly. Perhaps one of the most dumb booked RAW's ever to placate the inmates running the asylum backstage. Nothing about this RAW makes a bit of sense on where it was and why it was done. The whole Dean Douglas back injury deal was to write him outta the company clearly as he pretty much gave a 60 day notice he was leaving. Either way , again Vince promotes a big championship match and again he utterly fails with delivering on it. But you can tell who he was listening to backstage at this point.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - December 11th , 1995



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

Vince promotes the carrier of the disease tonight being Bob Backlund who will use the cross faced chicken wing on everyone from Bret Hart to a WWF Sound guy. Tonight Bret is gonna try and end that disease for good. While Shawn Michaels , that brave man ....with great courage will talk tonight on RAW.

Vince welcomes us to Monday Night RAW as he promotes that Diesel is there tonight and with Bret there , they could see some explosions. Out comes Owen Hart and Yokozuna facing a very , very young ....Jeff Hardy. Yes folks...that Jeff Hardy . Its Owen Hart in singles facing Jeff and he actually had been wrestling on WWF TV at this point as a jobber for 2+ years. So he was 16 when he started.

Backstage Diesel is watching the match on the monitor as Owen starts a beat down on Jeff. In the crowd is Diana Hart-Smith who is there watching this match as her brother Owen works over Hardy. In a wicked spot Hardy nearly does a back flip after a clothesline from Owen. At the end Owen seems to do a nice act and just does a roll up pin on Jeff Hardy. He then shows what an evil King of Hearts he really is and has Yokozuna come in and do the banzai drop on Hardy in the corner . He is ready to do it again as Diesel has seen enough.

He runs down and chases Owen off as Big Daddy Cool brawls with Yokozuna. He delivers the big kick to the face and knocks Yoko over the top rope as the big sumo isn't at all pleased. Vince claims that Diesel is looking for revenge for what happened to his good buddy Shawn Michaels and that his bragging over hurting Shawn has ticked him off.

After a commercial in ring we see Chaparita Asari who is also known as Masami Watanabe in real life. Anyhow she had a 11+ year career from 1992-2003 and retired. In ring is Aja Kong who is ready to face Asari. 2 weeks earlier the Japanese women wrestlers stole the show on RAW and this doesn't seem to be any different. Asari is just a little keg of dynamite folks. She is giving like 150+ pounds to Kong as well as maybe a foot of height.

Kong has the win but pulls her up to do more punishment. Then she delivers a cradle turning piledriver and could kill Asari but won't pin her as she pulls her up again for more punishment ! Chaparita tries to fight back and eats a big splash from Aja Kong for that. Again she is pulled up . Little Asari won't stop coming back as she is like a kid at her size. But Kong's ego and more nearly cost her. Asari then nearly lands what is a wicked as hell 460 spinning splash from the top rope ! She misses and Kong nails a back face hit to finish her off finally.

Post match this details just how brutal and raw these women are. Asari is seen with a busted nose and bleeding as two referees attend to her. She crawls over outta the ring as even I have to applaud her. We go from this awesome show of how serious someone works to Shawn Michaels who is very happy and cocky to be someone who is supposedly near his career ending from storyline purposes. Todd Pettingell interviews Shawn who discusses how he's not suffering from any symptoms right now and seems to forget what they are.

Shawn claims he'd return today but he will be back before long once he's cleared. Todd puts over what an awesome career he's had as WWF World tag team champion and IC Champion. That if he doesn't come back it could be a hell of a career. In anger Shawn doesn't take things well as Todd claims his career just might be over and him not being WWF World Champion. He refuses to answer anymore questions and puts over just how this business means so much to him.

We get a vignette of Bret Hart winning the WWF World Tile from Diesel and the future clash with British Bulldog. After the promo airs for In Your House , Vince brings up that Bret has never beaten the Bulldog. In 2 prior meetings he came out on top. Can Bret do it this time ? During this out comes Ahmed Johnson who is supposed to face Dean Douglas at the In Your House PPV. Shane cuts a promo claiming that Ahmed needs to get close to the kids for Christmas , hug the wife...gather the children because his rise in the WWF will end there. (more on that in the Overall part).

As Ahmed gets into the ring Rick Stockhausen (another jobber) jumps him from behind and starts beating on him to no effect. Ahmed looks on pissed as he lets Rick deliver one more blow and he then commences the ass kicking. Impact spin buster and tiger power bomb which is now called "Pearl River Plunge". Its quick as hell and shows how dominant he could be. Lawler wants to interview Ahmed again which ya wonder how bad this could turn out.

After some toy commercials from Milton Bradley and the WWF : The Arcade Game , Lawler interviews Ahmed. Then in the worst thing The King does he taunts Johnson as being uneducated and dumb. He claims Ahmed's toughest 4 years in school was the 3rd grade. Its then Ahmed decides to tell King if he wants to make something and be a mad , he can leave that chair and not let others do the work for him. Lawler realizes that Ahmed could kill him and quickly takes his spot beside Vince.

Backstage Dok Hendrix selling blue jean jackets of Diesel , Shawn , Bret and Undertaker on them for $59.75. That is a hell of a price for a blue jean jacket with someones face painted on the back. Then we see a Christmas promo which is just...weird. Its a police lineup as everyone is dressed as Santa as we see Razor Ramon is wearing a Santa Claus outfit and they beat up a guy for his bad behavior. The WWF knows who is naughty or nice folks and they wish everyone a happy holidays.

A promo airs as Classie Freddie Blassie is like a football coach discussing the RAW BOWL I. Telling his guys to be ready as we see Psycho Sid , Yokozuna and Owen Hart in football uniforms and pumped. They are gonna kick some but New Year's Eve. In ring we see Vince McMahon interview Ted Debiase , Sid Vicious and 1,2,3 Kid . Vince brings up how the last he saw Kid , he was running for his life. But since Ted is the spokesman for the Million Dollar Corporation now , he discusses things.

Ted puts over how the Kid will never be alone , but Sid/Kid are gonna be a top tag team. He predicts they are gonna be WWF World tag team champions. The Kid claims he has learned a lot of new things. 1) You don't care for these people (fans) 2) You only care about winning . 3) Get the money !! The Kid claims him and Sid will show Ramon and Jannetty who the new top team is in the WWF.

Sid himself cuts a promo and claims he feels sorry for Jannetty . Because he's a victim of circumstance. But he doesn't feel sorry for Razor because he deserves it. Sid claims him and The Kid are like family. He will not enjoy what he does to Marty , when he's on his feet begging for mercy. He won't.....then he laughs like maniac..."I WILL ENJOY IT HAA HA HA HA AH !!"


End of Part #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

We get a promo of Yokozuna vs Razor Ramon for the IC Title for next week. Which I wonder how that will go. Then were ready for the main event as Bob Backlund comes out to Presidential music. Bret comes out as he seems ready for this match . Which isn't a WWF World title match where Bob Backlund won't be god again.

Bob tries to use his amateur wrestling skills and get Bret off his feet , but the Hitman is ready for that and they go through that spot. Then they go through another spot of technical mat based stuff as Bret gets locked in a leg scissors and then back into control with a front head lock. As this is happening Lawler goes and interviews Diana Smith over the match ahead with British Bulldog/Bret Hart. Being a good wife , she supports her husband and that she supports Cornette's pushing to get him WWF World title shot.

After Bret had some control of the match , Backlund then drops his arm across the top rope and starts focusing on it for his finisher. Being slow and methodical as he jerks on the arm. As the match goes , Lawler makes off color jokes about Stu Hart (who was turning 80 then) about him wearing adult diapers. Its pretty bad. Backlund keeps focusing on his arm and uses an arm bar to try and weaken it more.

Bret rallies back and starts to set up his 5 moves of Doom sequence he starts. During this a scroll across the screen claims Vince McMahon will be on America Online at 10 pm. This was years before the ill-fated merger of America Online and Time Warner folks. Anyhow back in ring Bret goes to lock on the sharp shooter as outta the back comes Bulldog.

This allows Backlund to lock in the cross face chicken wing as Bulldog beats on Bret. The Referees manage to get Backlund off him at one point but he locks it in again as fans boo. Bulldog takes time to beat on Bret. Then at the end Backlund tries to shake his hand as Bulldog rebuffs that and what sets Backlund more off is , the referee awards the match to Bret Hart by DQ. Vince wonders what type of condition Bret Hart will be able to compete in , at In Your House in 6 days.


The Bad - Unlike last weeks terrible politic made show , this weeks show actually made some sense. They had the World Champion close the show and set up more heat for the WWF World title match again. The big knock will be that Bret can't seem to beat a 40ish guy in Bob Backlund clean as he has lost and wins by DQ against him. Also I wish those Japanese Women wrestlers had more time to work.


OVERALL : *** Outta 5. This one had a fun Japanese Women's wrestling match which showed just how edgy and raw the women could be. Aja Kong was showing some dominant skills and she made gestures about the WWF Women's title which...sadly would be ended as Madusa left the company that week or the week after. Anyhow Shane Douglas gave notice he was leaving and pretty much decided against losing to Ahmed since he had already done it for Razor . So that weekend at In Your House he had Buddy Landel come out as his hand picked guy to face Johnson. It was his last appearance in the WWF.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - December 18th , 1995

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Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

Vince brings up last nights In Your House PPV where we see the highlights of Helmsley being throw around a pigs pen , Jeff Jarrett and even Goldust. But the biggest shocker is the Undertaker and Diesel seemed to clash backstage in a tense moment. Diesel puts his hand on Paul Bearer and Undertaker removes it as they come eye to eye.

Tonight Yokozuna will face Razor Ramon for the IC Title . Then we will get another update on Shawn Michaels on whether he can continue his career. But first out comes Double J , Jeff Jarrett. We see that Jarrett took his gold record and smashed it over Ahmed Johnson's head. Ain't He Great ? Because he's Double J , Double R , Double T , that spells Jeff Jarrett. He's facing "Making a Difference Fatu" in a singles match as Fatu dances and shimmies to the ring . Its a clash of hip hop vs country music.

Fatu starts off in control and even does the Double J strut , which is like declaring an act of war ! Jarrett delivers a classic running DDT on Fatu and its no sold as he stands up. But eventually Jarrett takes the heel advantage. McMahon claims that Jeff Jarrett has declared himself the 1st entrant into the 1996 Royal Rumble. Lawler claims he returned to get a chance at the WWF World title.

Jarrett is basically working a slow paced match with Fatu and concentrates on his arm and shoulder. Eventually after his 3rd double ax smash off the top rope attempt , Fatu catches him. As Jarrett gets back in control and starts working the shoulder over , Ahmed runs into the ring and goes after him ! This costs Fatu the match. Post match after the DQ and Jarrett made his escape , Ahmed helps Fatu to the back.

Dok Hendrix talks to Gorilla Monsoon as he brings up the 1996 Royal Rumble. Monsoon made the Undertaker #1 contender and will face Bret Hart for the WWF World Title. Diesel wasn't happy but he will have to get over it as Gorilla claims. Then he's removed Jarrett's name from the 30 Man tournament , after the actions of last night and tonight on RAW . He will face Ahmed Johnson in a singles match instead.

After this we go to the next big promoted program that is brewing and its Goldust wanting to face Razor Ramon. "Do you miss me , sweetheart ? - Romeo is Bleeding 1994." Then Goldust claims he is waiting for Razor Ramon. That he knows Ramon oozes Machismo and he can't wait. They can have something taboo.

Backstage last night is shown as we see Bearer holds the chain which is remnants of his urn. Then Bearer claims its about time his Undertaker got a WWF World title shot after so long and thanks Monsoon. As he does in walks Diesel who isn't happy and rips the decision making process of this. Then Bearer does a joke , "Big Daddy Cool , your not so Cool anymore with how you lose your temper." Diesel grabs Bearer as Undertaker removes his hand as Diesel goes , "This is how its gonna be huh ?" "Whatever will be , will be." The Undertaker glares down Diesel .

In ring we see Buddy Landel (he's not using Nature Boy moniker here , even though he's using Flair's old ring garb) . He is facing Bob "Sparkplug" Holly tonight. As Holly comes out , Dok Hendrix decides to try and sell WWF the Arcade Game on all 3 video game plateform folks. He's selling it on SNES , Sega and Playstation. The game costs $59.95 then. Using the inflation calculator , in 2015 dollars that video game would be $93.56 !

Anyhow the match starts off quick as Landel jumps Bob Holly to try and get the advantage. Landel is someone who has worked for 17 years as Lawler claims and he was in Mid-Atlantic (Crockett) in the 1980's. Sadly for Landel personal problems hurt him and aborted a Ric Flair program then. As Landel gets back in control he does the Flair strut as folks aren't happy. Landel does his hair and puckers for the camera , I half expect a wooo from him but he doesn't do that.

Holly tries to rally back as fans chant for him against Landel. Who basically isn't really that impressive in ring due to his ring shape and how slow he's moving and use of arm bars and submission moves. Holly then during the match delivers a cool damn frankensteiner on Landel. Which shocks me he got the older , bigger Landel over in that. Then as the match nears its end , Landel lands his corkscrew elbow drop finisher which really....doesn't look that impressive at all.

Last night at In Your House someone dressed as Santa Claus beat down Savio Vega. Tonight on the Brother Love Show , he will reveal who that was. Brother Love ...loooooooves you as he's in ring with Ted Dibiase. Then he claims how Brother Million Dollar Man ....Loooooves you. They both joke about the surprise that Savio Vega received from Santa himself. Ted jokes he's a Claus alright , but he's not from the North Pole , he's from the South Pole and doesn't believe in giving toys to the kids.

Dibiase claims 1996 will be the year of the Million Dollar Corporation. He has The Kid , Sid Vicious and and now Santa Claus. And come 1996 he will have the Million Dollar Champion ! We get another look at last weeks fun Freddie Blassie promo for the New Years Night ...RAW BOWL.

Now we get Razor Ramon vs Yokozuna. Sitting on the entrance ramp in a special seat with a movie usher . Last night at In Your House its shown where Goldust handed Razor a special letter which stunned him and made him disgusted. Then as he stands in ring tonight , suddenly gold confetti drops from the selling as this throws Razor off. It allows Yokozuna to jump him from behind. He eventually gets Yoko outside and then the match starts again.

Then as the match goes Vince discusses how Goldust seems to be attracted and has weird feelings for Razor Ramon. Yoko soon uses his size advantage to get in charge as McMahon brings up that the IC title is the only belt he's not held in the WWF. The fans get solidly behind Razor as Mr. Fuji waves the Japanese flag to stop them.

In a cool funny segment Razor rallies back with punches and delivers one , two , three as Yokozuna rocks and is hanging nearly ready to fall over. Ramon hits the ropes and nails the 4th punch and he falls like a big tree. The fans start a loud USA chant to get behind Razor some more as he manages to get him down with a clothesline. In another funny spot , Razor delivers a top rope bulldog onto him. Then the lights go crazy as suddenly out comes the Undertaker who has vengeance on his mind and it concerns Yokozuna !

Yoko sees that casket and dead man and runs like crazy outta the ring ! The fastest I have ever seen Yokozuna move in and outta the ring. Post match Ramon just shrugs his shoulders and jokes he will take it. After some commercials from Acclaim for a video game and Dok Hendrix advertising rector sets for building cars , we go to Dok Hendrix with Razor Ramon .

Hendrix brings up to Razor how he feels about him. Ramon jokes about how the letter claimed he was so hot and so good looking among other things. But Chico , the Bad Guy is not into guys. He likes women. He claims he can't reveal the full letter due to WWF being a family show. Vince is disgusted over this whole deal but goes to the Shawn Michaels video . The inspirational video for HBK. Which is this folks.



This video is again to promote Shawn's big face push coming as we can tell. Its a nice tribute video. This ends this broadcast of RAW and the final show of 1995.


The Bad - This show was just a lackluster one from start to finish beyond the big promoted angles we were starting to get. Diesel/Undertaker , Razor Ramon/Goldust and the Shawn Michaels promo. But as far as matches go , the show was dying pretty badly. You can't trot out an older performer like Buddy Landel and expect the audience to be impressed with really ...an elbow drop finisher. Its one of those.....really Vince ?

Also the fact were supposed to learn who Santa Claus is and it goes nowhere. In fact they could have scrapped that entire 5-10+ minute segment and just had another match since they weren't gonna reveal who it was then.

The opening match and Main event one both end in basic no endings . Out runs Ahmed Johnson to end the Jarrett/Fatu match. Then Undertaker comes out and ends the Razor/Yokozuna one. Its again a big factor that is hurting RAW. The big promoted matches don't have much of an ending or things change and they become something else and less interesting to see.


OVERALL : ** outta 5. Bad matches and finishes aside , this RAW will be the one that pretty much was a precursor to the Attitude Era. The storyline with Goldust/Razor Ramon was gonna push the line of the WWF and what they would do from here on out. A storyline where a man uses mind games to make someone believe he has gay feelings for him was pretty out there for the company at the time. It also was the start of the Diesel/Undertaker program.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - January 8th , 1996



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

Mercifully the WWE hasn't added the January 1st "WWF RAW BOWL" to this. Maybe Vince realized how damn terrible that show was and was like...no lets not add it. Before RAW begins Shawn Michaels will make a special announcement as its hinted he will compete in the 1996 Royal Rumble. Also we see Vince's most horrible idea as the competition with WCW had him create horrible dumb parodies which start with Billionaire Ted's Wrasslin War room. The graphic match up at In Your House between British Bulldog and Bret Hart will be shown as well.

RAW has a new opening which focuses on the wrestlers and them delivering some damn good moves , moving away from that dumb 1995 intro of Shawn strip tease dancing before a helicopter. Vince has a **** ton of stuff happening as Hakushi waits to face Double J , Jeff Jarrett. Tonight we will discover who the Million Dollar Champion is. Also what will happen with Shawn. As well as the RAW contest he is running.

We see highlights of what Jeff Jarrett did outside the ring to Ahmed Johnson at In Your House. Lawler even gives Double J , an assist. We get a close up of his guitar as Lawler claims the guitar was a gift from his good buddy , Garth Brooks. Inside the ring Hakushi's fast style and airel moves keep Jarrett off balance as he at one point debates walking to the back instead of finishing the match. But he comes back in as Double J takes the heel advantage.

McMahon is asked about the RAW Bowl and answers low , that was last week after Lawler seems to joke in an inside way it was terrible. Thus far this match hasn't been that terrible. Its been a very ok match as Jarrett isn't as fast as Hakushi. He even delivers his cool Muta like hand spring elbow into the corner. Why Hakushi wasn't used better boggles my mind. I'd say maybe he didn't know much English. Anyhow after Hakushi tries a 5* frog splash , he misses and Double J locks on the figure four for the win.

Backstage is Jim Ross who is taking Dok Hendrix place for the night. Ross claims that Hendrix was held up by the blizzard. Ross runs down who has entered the Royal Rumble match. The winner is guaranteed a WWF Championship match at Wrestlemania. Anyhow those entered thus far ....Doug Gilbert (USWA) , Jake "The Snake" Roberts , Jerry "The King" Lawler , "Making a Difference Fatu" , Dr. Issac Yankem , and Vader. In fact we see a vignette of Vader that is so comically bad , i had to laugh.

Vader is working out in various poses, but looks like the "Stay Puff Marshmellow" man as he talks about himself being from Stone Mountain , Georgia. Then he goes...ITS TIME....ITS VADER TIME ! How he doesn't have his cool ass mask and creepy vibe is beyond me. But well this sums up how the WWF missed on Vader.

More entered is Henry Godwinn , Marty Jannetty , Kama , Skip (Candido) , and from All-Japan ; Takao Omori. This would be Omori's only US appearance folks as he's spent all of his 20+ career in Japan wrestling for NOAH , All-Japan and New Japan. Ross turns to Scheme Gene as its.....WTF ? He claims he can't tell about the people now , but tonight on the 1-900 number he will reveal more. Only on the 1-900 line !

In ring Ahmed is making quick short work of Jeff Brettler who comically is wearing pants that likely belonged to MC Hammer at one point. I'm sure Hammer sold him those pants folks. Anyhow Ahmed is not a fan of the baggy pants Brettler and is just decimating the poor man. He delivers such a wicked cross arm suplex I think Brettler cried. Anyhow Ahmed sets up his finisher as he delivers the HARD IMPACT SPINEBUSTER and then the Pearl River Plunge to the him. Jeff was just ...2 Legit Not 2 Quit.

Post match as Ahmed is looking away out runs Jeff Jarrett who tries to smash him with the guitar . Instead the turnbuckle eats the guitar and I'm sure Garth Brooks is pissed. Double J runs to the back. Ahmed takes the remains of the guitar and smashes it into a million pieces. We get vignette of Undertaker and how he destroyed King Mabel and Sir Mo , regaining his urn. Next week he will face Issac Yankem. While Owen Hart and Marty Jannetty will have air combat in a singles match as well.

In ring we see Ted Debiase with Brother Love. He claims he spent the entire 1995 looking for the right man to be the champion he wanted. Then finally he's found the man. THE RINGMASTER.....as .....its Steve Austin ? He is the Ringmaster and the new Million Dollar Champion and gets awarded the belt. Which has been inactive for 4 years. His skills are bragged up by McMahon and Ted. Brother Love calls him...."BROTHER RINGMASTER...."

Ringmaster wants everyone to touch the screen and his hand. To be destined for success and for glory. He proclaims how he will be the one throwing 29 other people over the top rope at the Royal Rumble. That he will be WWF World Champion , but its not as good as this belt. Ted finishes the promo claiming EVERYBODY'S GOT A PRICE....

Before we go to commercial we see that Bret Hart poured buckets of blood and Earl Hebner claims he allowed the match to continue as he asked Bret if he could see and more. Vince promotes the dumb Billionaire Ted Wrasslin War-Room sketch and Shawn Michaels .

Goldust is out to face Aldo Montoya as how his act towards Ramon is brought up. How he gave Razor gold roses and wants Razor seemingly. McMahon puts over he's a talented in ring worker even as he does this. Lawler puts over its all likely an act. During this match the Goldust , sexual part of the act is coming in more as we see. Which again is pushing some boundaries for the WWF at this stage . He delivers his finisher and makes quick short work of Aldo.


END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Jim Ross is back again as he's about to discuss and show the future of Shawn Michaels. Its a phony press conference basically with a lot of plants in a room as Shawn announces his return to compete at Royal Rumble. He then sends words to Bret Hart or Undertaker that he will be the guy that will carry the WWF into the next millennium. We return to Ross as Scheme Gene claims he has a hot tip about the Royal Rumble and its pretty terrible as an act. Vince seems to believe this is funny as Lawler isn't laughing when we return.

We see reactions from other WWF Superstars. Diesel claims business is business and he's my best friend. Razor claims he knows that Shawn is a competitor and will win it. Owen Hart claims he has a target on his head and that he will come for him.

Then we go to a clip from In Your House as Vince gives us the PPV main event as we see Bulldog vs Bret Hart. This match isn't as good terms as the last two matches the two men had back in 1993/1994. This one is more heated as Bulldog is full heel. During this match Diana watches her husband and brother wrestle as thus far its been a very solid match and the Bulldog locks on a very submission style headlock. Cornette claims that Bret was trying to pull Davey's hair which he wasn't.

Bret rallies back and nails some good moves. He then delivers an epic style pile driver which shocks me that Bulldog's head didn't snap in two with how it looked. Then he starts the 5 moves of doom sequence as Lawler claims he knows what is ahead. Suddenly the screen goes dark as Vince warns of Viewer discretion advised. Then Bulldog dumps Bret over the top rope as Bret sits huddle , working to give himself a hard blad job it appears. Bulldog comes and throws him into the steel steps.

The blood flows as Lawler claims he's busted wide open. The fans start a WE WANT BLOOD chant as Bret pours in the ring. Hebner keeps trying to talk to Bret as the match continues and Bulldog nails a hard pile driver. McMahon claims there is a doctor in attendance as Bret bleeds. Vince being an idiot claims he doesn't want close ups of Bret bleeding , please no ! The camera people are forced to listen to their boss then later ignore him and show Bret close up.

As the Bulldog tries a top rope move , he hurts his knee and tries a bow & arrow submission , which Bret rolls out and nearly locks in the sharp shooter. The Bulldogs tights are covered with Bret's blood as Vince pleads that this match should be stopped. But Bret nearly wins with a dragon suplex into the ring. As Lawler points out during this , Bret has a few seconds of flurry of offense and keeps the ref from stopping the match. In a cool outside the ring spot Bret tries to do a body splash reverse style onto Bulldog and he gets the running power slam on him.

This match has became a precursor to what a lot of WWF Attitude era matches would become. During the brawl outside Bret blocks a suplex onto the concrete floor and posts him on the guard rail and clotheslines him off it. But Bret tries a pin in ring and he kicks out. Diana is watching in stun horror at how far both are going and not seeming to stop. Another series of near pins happen. Then the exhausted Bulldog can't do a leap frog at one point but Bret makes it work as part of the match.

The fans are behind Bret as he wraps the exhausted Bulldog into a weird pin and gets it. The fans explode and Diana is shocked her brother retained . Bulldog can't believe he lost and she joins him. After this match ends we see Undertaker and Paul Bearer. The Creatures of the Night have wanted him as champion so long. Undertaker puts over what a grand and glorious champion he has been , but the Creatures want this and he will do it.

Kathy Shrek wins the trip to Royal Rumble . Vince promotes next weeks RAW as Ringmaster will make his in ring debut. Then after such a solid match and more , he decides to mock Ted Turner. The Billionaire skits were so angry produced and so horrible done it made Vince look like a laughing stock. Also during the sketches we get the TV debut of.....Vince Russo. Most comical moment ...Vince claiming that the WWF had a policy against steroids and WCW doesn't. At the end of the segment a WWF New Generation promo airs and a WWF America Online deal about the companies drug policy.


The Bad - Billionaire Ted's Wrasslin War-Room was such a horrible , dumb conceived idea that years later Russo joked that it was Vince's idea. That several guys tried to talk him outta doing this type of segment but Vince wouldn't listen . Instead of helping his company , it alienated older viewers who loved Hogan , Savage and Gene Okerlund. And they actually turned it onto Nitro to see the older favorites.

RAW really didn't have much match wise beyond the epic match from In Your House. The show was helped huge by that

OVERALL : ***1/2 Outta 5. The debut of Steve Austin as the Ringmaster , the return of Shawn Michaels and the Bret Hart/British Bulldog match made this a very solid RAW to watch. The only down part was Vince's silly idea to blast WCW and the horrible done skits. Years later Vince would admit the Billionaire Ted skits was badly done and he should have not blasted his former stars that way.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - January 15th , 1996



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon opens with discussing Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and celebration of that day. Before RAW really opens we see that Vince has realized what sells and that is sex and Sunny. She is on a pool table in a very sexy position playing with some pool balls. She has a special scheme in place and what will Gorilla Monsoon do ? We see Goldust with his tattoo of Razor and Dok Hendrix is backstage saying Ramon is on his way to the building as we speak !

Marty Jannetty comes out to face Owen Hart as Vince plugs the Issac Yankem/Undertaker Main Event for later. Lawler claims that the Royal Rumble will be won by royalty. Either Owen Hart , King Mabel or himself will win the Rumble. Jannetty starts off in control and it goes quick with the counters and more. The match is fast paced , as Owen gets in control and says loudly ..."I'm the King of Hearts !"

In a nice spot as Owen gets Jannetty in the corner , he rams his head into his mid-section. Then Jannetty delivers a high knee and knows Owen backwards. In control , Jannetty makes a weird mistake as he climbs the top rope slowly and Owen goes the other direction. So Marty has to jump back into the ring and race over and knock him outta the ring. In a cool ass pin later , Owen delivers a backwards bridge pin , trapping Jannetty's shoulders to the ground. It shows how good he could be.

Todd Pettengill is backstage to discuss the WWF Royal Rumble. It starts at 7pm folks. Todd brings down the Preview Channel getting the WWF "Free For All" which was a 30 minute pre-show before the Royal Rumble. He brings up that stars will draw numbers during that and they will show the one who gets #1 and the one who gets #30. Diesel is considered a favored to win as Big Daddy Cool brings up his good buddy Shawn being in it and how Vader is in it. As Diesel jokes , its time all right...ITS DIESEL TIME and he's gonna win.

Then Todd shows Vader who is from Rocky Mountains and Boulder , Colorado. Vader proclaims himself the PRINCE OF POWER. And does his lame work out and looks not that impressive. Jarrett vs Ahmed Johnson is brought up. Todd promotes how ya won't see action like this anywhere else , he then throws it over to Dok Hendrix. Who claims Razor is gonna get his hands on Goldust and he's not gonna wait.

As Ringmaster comes out , Sunny is shown chalking a pool stick in a very revealing bra. She blows on the stick and hits the ball as she claims ....everyone likes it....RAW. Then Vince leaves that sexy image to show us his dumb clown skit preview of Billionaire Ted. He promotes Undertaker/Issac Yankem for later and we finally go to the ring.

Facing the Ringmaster in his 1st TV match is.....Matt Hardy. A very young Matt Hardy who is very young and not as toned as he'd become. Hardy has short hair which is weird to see. But the Ringmaster is working him over good as Ted Dibiase laughs. During the match Lawler cracks a joke over the Billionaire Ted skits and how Ted Turner didn't like them. Which years later Eric Bischoff revealed Ted Turner laughed his ass off at the desperation Vince was in and hoped he would keep making them.

Matt rallies back but is still trying to find himself more as he deliver 3-4 awkward front kicks to Ringmaster and tries a suplex , which the Ringmaster reverses. But the guy won't pin him yet and after another brief Hardy rally , he delivers the slap jack across the top rope and locks in Dibiase's Million Dollar Dream sleeper hold. Dibiase celebrates the win and comes into the ring as he holds up the belt. Hardy takes some kicks and lays knocked out dead by Ringmaster.

We get the vignette of Shawn Michaels and what a damn performer he is. Shawn brags about stealing the show each and every night. Its a great promo and one from weeks ago. What can he do to impress the fans , to show he's Shawn Michaels. Then he brings up the fake Syracuse deal with 9 thugs. And how he rallied to come back too soon. And we see the collapse in ring and how one doctor claims any future blows to the head could kill him. But he came back because he loves the business !

Shawn claims he will be at Fresno and he will soon out last all 29 WWF Superstars at the Royal Rumble. Then him and his fans will punch a 1 way ticket to Wrestlemania for the WWF World Championship. Backstage Dok Hendrix is backstage waiting on Razor. In ring outta nowhere this match is halfway in as the Smokin Gunns is facing a masked team called The Spiders. Its learned that thanks to Sunny , the Bodydonna's will get a WWF Tag Team title shot at Royal Rumble. Skip and Zip (Tom Prichard) .

We go from this quick match to Vince's again insane idea of comedy (which was backfiring on him) . During this skit Turner wants to buy the WWF (he could buy and sell Vince a million times over honestly) and its pointed out he has the disloyal (Savage) , the greedy (Gene Okerlund) and the has been (Hogan). This is just insane to watch and Ted Turner demands that they get out there and buy himself some WWF Superstars. At the end the sketch airs the WWF New Generation : Its not for sale. (Oh how that will come back to haunt Vince)

In ring Vince McMahon interviews Goldust and how he's unnerved Razor Ramon. So once in ring he starts to touch and unnerve Vince himself. He questions if Goldust means what he says towards wanting Razor or if he is using most men's homophobic fears and Razors against him. A man who oozes Machismo gosh darn it. Then Goldust comically asks if Vince has a microphone in his pocket or if he's happy to see him.

Goldust quotes a line from Tootsie and then he claims how he wants Razor sooooo bad. More than any man or woman could want a man. He then tells him chico to not forget the name Goooooldust and blows a kiss. Which disgusts Vince and then Lawler quotes a line which is ....well...."Goldust is here , he maybe queer , and he's gonna be IC Champion come this Sunday !"

Backstage Dok Hendrix claims Razor Ramon is here and just pulled into the parking lot. Lawler replies that something bad could happen tonight. At commercial we see a promo for the Undertaker/Bret Hart at Royal Rumble for the WWF World Title. Taker is doing it for the Creatures of the Night and is ready to destroy Bret Hart. As Bret tells him to get ready and its time he snapped into the real world !

After the vignette airs , Razor arrives and learns that Goldust has finished his promo. On his way to the ring Issac Yankem comes down to just electric drills basically. That is his entrance ? Issac shows us his equipment and well....its pretty under whelming. Out comes the Undertaker slowly and it spooks the hell outta Issac Yankem. Lawler has to try and give him a pep talk at the announce table and it works some. Yankem is as tall as Undertaker and then he tries to throw a sucker punch ....which fails.

Undertaker is just beating down Yankem for the pure hell of it. Then he smashes him into the ring pole and shows Lawler he means business. Then in dumb Lawler moment m he tries to grab the remnants of the urn from Paul Bearer and it pisses off the Dead Man. He runs like hell once Taker stalks him and gets to the back. This allows Yankem to to get the heel advantage.

The fans chant and get behind the Undertaker. Then we go to the back as Dok Hendrix claims that Goldust will speak to him about his match next week against Bret Hart on RAW. As Vince claims , if Dok can find Goldust , so will Razor. Then as Yankem looks ready to finish him off , he waits too long and the Undertaker heals back up and rallies back. Then delivers the Tombstone pile driver finish for the win.

Then we go to the back as Dok starts his interview as Bret Hart is brought up and Goldust claims he has no heart ...because Hollywood is a cold dark place. Outta nowhere comes Razor who just starts beating and throwing Goldust around. Finally to escape Razor , he delivers a shot to his groin which stops the Bad Guy. Then after this we go to a clip of Sunny in the bath tub , naked...covering herself.

Backstage again to Dok Hendrix as things seem to be settling down. Goldust tries to get his mink coat and leave as Razor again attacks him and smashes him around backstage. They go outside into the snow as the referees and others try and stop things. In a qild brawl in the snow one stops Razor from laying out Goldust with a shovel. Then they fight in the snow some more as Goldust manages to get to his car. In his final angry act , The Bad Guy throws a trash can at the car , smashing his window as the show ends.

The Bad - This RAW basically was the Go Home show for Royal Rumble. It promoted the big programs for sure. The matches weren't spectacular as Ringmaster/Matt Hardy and Smokin Gunns/Spiders wasn't something to write home about.

Another bad Billionaire Ted sketch which killed a lotta momentum the show had dead. The fact Vince believes his stars wasn't for sale in the WWF New Generation is very comical.

OVERALL : *** outta 5. While the matches lacked beyond the opening , the WWF did a hell of a job selling Royal Rumble 1996 and really taking steps more towards the Attitude Era. The Sunny spots was unthinkable months ago , now she's pretty much hinting about sex and more onscreen. The blood shown on RAW last week and the storyline of Goldust/Razor showed how far things were going.

[BigLbo]

i wonder how many times vince jerked to that hbk tribute.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

i wonder how many times vince jerked to that hbk tribute.

That and the whole part of nearly going into an orgazm everytime he'd dance and do his near strip tease routine. Hell he even had Shawn Michaels do that routine to open RAW in 1995 in front of a helicopter.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - January 22nd 1996



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

Another broadcast warning is aired and then Sunny is back to hinting about sex and viewer discretion is advised she tells us. Then we get the the discussion and clips of Royal Rumble. Its where we see the debut of Marlena (aka Terri Runnels) and the real start of Diesel/Undertaker as a program. Its then we see clips of the bizarre one Goldust defeating Razor Ramon. Then we get a tail of 3 superstars regarding Diesel , Undertaker and Bret Hart. And the conflict between those 2 big men at the end.

Tonight Bret Hart will face Goldust in a WWF World Title match up. Then we get Razor Ramon facing Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Plus we get a Shawn Michaels interview about his trip to Wrestlemania 12. The music for Savio Vega is pretty loud and cool. As Vega waits for his challenger , out comes Jim Cornette who screams about this being THE TIME....and WHAT TIME IS IT ? ITS ...VADER TIME ! Vince promotes Vader as he comes out and how Shawn Michaels threw Vader and Yokozuna both out at the same time.

The fans sadly aren't as impressed with Vader since ....well Hulk Hogan pretty much humbled him weeks ago and he's really a WCW guy. The fans boo and aren't into him , which I guess is heel heat for him in this. Vader locks up and punches Savio down into a corner and steps back and acts like he personally destroyed a guy. Thus far, its nothing that screams impressive as both Lawler and McMahon promote it. Finally outside the ring Vader starts destroying Savio and drops him across the ring rail.

Vader finally ends this match with the Vader bomb , dropping himself from the 2nd rope onto Savio Vega. Cornette coaches Vader to keep destroying Savio to get him over as a big heel . He holds the referee back as we get another Vader bomb , as the referee tries to get involved he head butts him and throws him out. Cornette knows he has screwed up as he tries to get him outta the ring. Then another ref makes the mistake of getting in his face. He eats a power bomb . Gorilla Monsoon comes out and gets in Vader's face. Then he suspends Vader as it flips him out.

Monsoon checks on the referee as Vader is trying to be contained by Cornette who pleads with him to let him handle this. To let him talk to Gorilla. Instead Vader again gets in the old man's face and eats a few chops across the ring . This sets Vader off as Monsoon has his back turned helping the referee up. Then outta nowhere Vader splashes him and the ref in the corner. He drops an elbow on him and delivers a Vader bomb on him as outta the back comes Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon to save the old man.

Vader runs outta the ring as fans cheer. The police is out as McMahon is angry over what happened to Monsoon. Cornette gets Vader to leave finally as after the commercial , they stretcher Monsoon out. They show the replays of what a monster ...a horrible monster Vader is according to Vince McMahon. Backstage they find Jim Cornette who is still trying to beg him down as Vader is choking and scaring Jim to death.

Then we see Vader who screams about declaring war on everyone from Mr. McMahon to ____ ? Vader is destroying the back locker room as Cornette is begging to control him. Out comes Hunter Hearst Helmsley with a female valet named Shae Marks who is a Playboy Playmate. Not a bad looking valet for him. The music for The Bad Guy hits and he comes out. We see pictures of what happened last night and how the 1,2,3 Kid cost his former buddy the IC Title and he doesn't seem to let down over it all.

Ted Debiase and The Kid mock Razor for losing in an interview spot as this match begins. Helmsley tries to use his technical prowess in ring but the Bad Guy just throws him across into the turn buckle and hits on him. In a cool spot Helmsley and Ramon trade nearly suplexing each other in or outta the ring. Then Helmsley plants him onto the ropes and knocks him into the ring. While this happens , Lawler slides his chair close to Shae Marks and discusses going out later possibly as she claims she will have to massage Hunter and all the bruises he gets.


END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The fans are hot for Razor in this one. McMahon brings up that Helmsley lasted over 50 minutes in the Royal Rumble match. Helmsley stays in control of this match as the fans try and rally The Bad Guy back. Outta the back comes The Kid who has a big bottle of some kind and proclaims what a baby he is. This incites Ramon who takes off after Kid and chases him around the ring awhile. This costs him the match via count out. A pissed angry bad guy storms back into the ring and nearly puts the Razor's Edge onto Helmsley. He escapes outta there.

After the serious action we had gotten , Vince decides to mock Ted Turner some more with his billionaire Ted skit. This one has them mock Turner's organization as having no original ideas. That they can't steal anything idea wise from the WWF. At the end they can't come up with anything and the WWF : New Generation deal is shown. (This would soooo come back to haunt Vince)

As the RAW band plays and we see Dok Hendrix with them , Vince McMahon is out to interview Shawn Michaels and he nearly goes bonkers over the BEST SUPEEEERSTAR of TODAY ....Shaaaaaawn Michaaaaeeeels !! Vince is still bonkers promoting HBK as he won and is going to Wrestlemania. Shawn jokes that he hates to say he told him so , but well...he told him so. He lists the 3 steps of winning the Royal Rumble and now the 2nd step going to Wrestlemania 12. Then he stops and claims that one thing he has to do is stop a guy bragging he put him out weeks ago and its Owen Hart.

Shawn claims that 9 chumps in Syracuse , NY did that and he'll take care of them later (he never did) . He proclaims that no one can talk trash in the WWF except him and his Clique. Out comes Jim Cornette who begs off and claims he doesn't want a fight and is sorry what Vader did. But he handles Owen's contracts and is talking big. Then Vince brings up how Shawn tossed Yokozuna and Vader over the top rope. Then he asks Cornette how he felt when he himself went over that same top rope as well by Michaels ?

Cornette doesn't want Michaels to touch his men anymore. That he doesn't have nothing to prove by beating Shawn again. Then HBK claims he will give anything in the world to get him. Anything from money etc etc. Cornette senses on that and claims that if he said anything then give up the WWF World Title shot and he will face Owen Hart. After Shawn debates this claiming he's waited 11 long years to get to this mountain , Cornette's mocking and claiming Shawn's a chicken has him accept the match. Then he jokes..."I'm gonna do to Owen , what I'm about to do to you...." and throws him over the top rope.

We get promotion for next weeks RAW and that after the Big Game ...turn it to RAW. Out comes Goldust and Marlena (Terri) who is smoking folks. I will safely say she is hotter than the playboy playmate Helmsley had earlier. We get a promo from Goldust and Marlena who claims he put on an Oscar caliber performance last night. What is next ? Who is next ?

Out comes Bret Hart who the last 2-3 months been in some serious wars in ring. He was nearly broken by Diesel , bloodied and battered by Bulldog and hurt his knee against Undertaker. He's wearing big knee pad on his bad knee. Marlena watches as the director in the chair as Bret Hart is ready for her man Goldust and the theater guy is behind her.

Goldust after we come back from commercial break gets the advantage. The fans rally Bret back as he punches and kicks the bizarre one back to take some control. Then after being kicked back outta the ring by Hart , Goldust wants to leave with Marlena. They get to the RAW entrance as out comes Razor who smacks him and throws him into the ring to face the Hitman's wraith. In quick order The Hitman does his sequence and locks in the sharp shooter finisher. After the match we can tell that Bret suffered a black eye from his encounter with Deadman last night.

In ring Vince interviews The Hitman who claims he's sick to death of Diesel's whining and complaining. That he cost the fans of the WWF and everyone a finish at Royal Rumble. So he's demanded this rematch happen in a 15 foot high steel cage. Bret doesn't care about Diesel's change of attitude and he will finish this. He also tells the Undertaker he wouldn't ever try and cost Taker a fair match.

Lawler promotes Super Monday , which is a day after the big game. Shawn Michaels will be in action and that Billionaire Ted will hold a press conference on why he's trying to put the WWF outta business. Then we get clips of Vader destroying Gorilla Monsoon. They claim they will have an update next week on the condition of Gorilla Monsoon !


The Bad - Match wise , not much was special about this RAW. The Main Event and opening matches had finishes , but nothing really spectacular. In ring Bret's physical shape likely limited the company from doing a really long TV match with Goldust.

Vince pretty much blasts WCW for not having an original idea and copying the WWF in the Billionaire Ted whining skits. Well....lets just say karma was gonna take care of that soon. People saw this as Vince crying over the same actions he had done in the 1980's as the company raided the territories.


OVERALL : ***1/2 outta 5. This RAW will be known for Vader's huge impact as a new heel. The WWF had to re-establish the killer Vader who from 1992-1994 was considered the top bad guy in the business. One where he threatened Sting. So they had him take out Monsoon to establish his rep and prepare him for a future clash with a top face in Shawn Michaels in 1996. This would be the 1st brief exit of Gorilla Monsoon from WWF TV.

[alex]

i wonder how many times vince jerked to that hbk tribute.

HBK wasn't his type