Monday Night Raw – January 9, 1995: The Wrestlers Try To Save It
IMG Credit: WWE
Monday Night Raw
Date: January 9, 1995
Location: Summit, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels
The slow build towards the Royal Rumble continues and that means we get to sit through some more horrible shows. This is one of the worst times the company has ever had and last week’s show couldn’t have been much worse. At least this week’s show is the two year anniversary of the show so maybe it can be a little better. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Vince and Shawn talk about the show, which thankfully is in an arena instead of a high school gym. They’re VERY excited about William Shatner appearing on the King’s Court tonight, meaning the Star Trek jokes abound.
Shatner is ready to deal with Lawler but he’s here to promote his new show. Only one Star Trek joke abounds here.
Intercontinental Title: Owen Hart vs. Razor Ramon
Razor is defending and we get the Madison Square Garden style set with the entrance across from the hard camera. Hart takes his time coming in so Razor gets in a sucker punch but the referee won’t let him hit a belt shot. Owen gets knocked outside and slammed off the top as this is one sided so far.
It gets even worse for Owen as he misses a charge into the post, meaning it’s off to the armbar, complete with some slaps to Owen’s head. A clothesline gives Razor two and the armbar goes right back on. The fall away slam looks to set up the Razor’s Edge but Owen backdrops him to the floor. That means a suicide dive, which is a very different move for 1995. Razor’s rolls through a high crossbody for two and we take a break.
Back with Owen’s enziguri connecting and a spinwheel kick dropping Razor again. The chinlock goes on before Owen jumps on his back for the sleeper. As expected, Razor suplexes his way to freedom and gets a very delayed two. The yet to be named chokeslam puts Owen down but he’s fine enough to crotch Razor on the ropes. Owen hits a missile dropkick but here’s Bret for the DQ before the Sharpshooter can go on.
Rating: B. This was really getting somewhere and the ending makes sense. Owen has made it clear that he wants to be better than Bret and Bret is still mad over Owen costing him the title so he costs Owen a title as well. It helps when Razor can have a good match with anyone and they can do a rematch if they want to go there. This show is already 49x better than last week’s so they’re off to a good start.
Post match Jeff Jarrett tries to come in for the save but Bret and Razor stand tall.
Royal Rumble Report, with Todd Pettengill explaining the whole concept, including the dreaded sixty second intervals. The rest of the card gets some attention too, though that doesn’t make the show sound much better. Diesel wants to know if Bret Hart has changed while he’s been hanging out in Calgary. Bret better be ready for the Rumble.
Jerry Lawler is ready for Shatner.
Hakushi vs. Matt Hardy
This is Hakushi’s debut and who would believe he’s nowhere near the bigger star? Matt tries to pick up the pace to start and gets superkicked for his efforts. Shawn Michaels makes menu jokes about Hakushi and it’s a snap suplex into a slingshot splash to finish Hardy in a hurry. Total squash.
It’s time for the King’s Court with Lawler listing off all of William Shatner’s accomplishments before bringing him out. Lawler wants him to say this is his greatest accomplishment, but Shatner isn’t going there. He was chewing gum yesterday and that was more impressive than Lawler. That doesn’t go well as Lawler pokes him in the chest, meaning Shatner takes the mic away.
The fight is almost on with Shatner twisting Lawler’s fist behind his back. A monkey flip sends Lawler flying and here’s Bret to clear him out. Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie come to ringside but nothing happens. I’ve never seen a single Star Trek anything so this didn’t do much for me.
Royal Rumble ad with Pamela Anderson in her apartment and various wrestlers calling to hit on her. She was the big focal point of the show and looked like she would rather be having dental surgery.
King Kong Bundy vs. Gary Sabaugh
Avalanche finishes Sabaugh in less than thirty seconds. Yes they are running long.
Post match, Bundy tells Shawn that he’s winning the Rumble, which Shawn doesn’t buy.
We look at the Tag Team Title tournament. Here are the updated brackets:
Bam Bam Bigelow/Tatanka
Headshrinkers
Heavenly Bodies
1-2-3 Kid/Bob Holly
The Bushwhackers fire Howard Finkel up for his tuxedo match.
Well Dunn does the same for Harvey Wippleman.
Video on Kama Mustafa, the toughest man in the world.
Harvey Wippleman vs. Howard Finkel
Yes a tuxedo match and yes this is the main event with Well Dunn and the Bushwhackers at ringside. They start the expected brawling with Finkel’s pants coming down but not off as Harvey loses his shirt. Both of their underwear say RAW of course as the ugly grappling continues. Harvey thinks he wins but Howard still has his cummerbund on, allowing him to steal the pants and the win. This is something I never need to see again.
A lot of dancing and celebrating ensues. By that I mean longer than the match itself went as they just keep marching around the ring for the better part of four minutes.
Next week: Bret vs. Jarrett.
The announcers give a recap and preview as they’re filling in all the time they can. Jarrett comes out and promises to take care of Hart and Shatner next week.
Overall Rating: D. That one match did help a lot but come on man. Even a fifteen minute match which was quite good wasn’t enough to save the show from Fink vs. Harvey, which is hardly surprising. I’m sure Vince found it hilarious but you finish on that instead of the celebrity appearance of the good match? It’s the Saturday Night’s Main Event formula all over again, but that doesn’t make it smart.
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