Monday Night Raw – September 11, 1995: Uncle Eric Was Right
Monday Night Raw
Date: September 11, 1995
Location: Memorial Civic Center, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 1,600
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
We’re done with Summerslam (and the US Open tennis tournament) so it’s time for the beginning to the build for the next In Your House. Shawn Michaels is on fire after retaining the Intercontinental Title in a ladder match against Razor Ramon and Diesel managed to get rid of King Mabel, because that was a thing. This is also the first ever show to go up against Monday Nitro so you know it’s going to be big. Let’s get to it.
Vince McMahon gives us a rather energetic preview of the show, which features a double main event as it is the Fall Season Premiere.
Opening sequence, featuring the debut of the Raw on the roof deal (the helicopter intro as you might know it).
Razor Ramon vs. British Bulldog
Jim Cornette is here with Bulldog as Razor starts in on the arm. Razor sends him outside for a consultation with Cornette as Lawler brings up Summerslam 1992 as a reason for Bulldog to get a WWF Title shot against Bret Hart. Back in and Razor cranks on the arm some more but Bulldog is right back with the delayed vertical suplex.
A clothesline gives Bulldog two and we get another pause, as both of them are rather fond of just stopping after a big move. Bulldog hits the gorilla press and we take a break, coming back with a slam getting two on Razor. Another slam lets Razor go up top but Bulldog stops to look at….nothing apparent, allowing Razor to pull him back down.
The referee gets bumped and Razor hits the Edge, only to have Dean Douglas come in for a top rope elbow (with Razor laying there with his head down in a way no one would do while making a normal cover). 1-2-3 Kid’s save doesn’t work and Bulldog hits the powerslam. The Kid comes off the top and hits….well it was supposed to be Razor but Bulldog didn’t move fast enough so he hit both of them and it’s….something at 7:12.
Rating: C-. All of the random staring around and just waiting for stuff to happen really hurt things here as it felt really awkward. It doesn’t help that Douglas is still a lame character and it’s hard to care about anything he is doing. Kid and Razor having tensions is interesting though, and odds are a big showdown is coming.
Post match the beatdown is on, with Bulldog beating on both of them and Cornette getting in some stomps as well. We don’t actually get a winner announced.
Post break, Vince McMahon is in the ring to talk to Ramon and the Kid, with Lawler talking over him in something you don’t hear that often. With Vince clarifying that Razor was disqualified because of Kid’s interference, Kid wants to know what was up with Razor costing him a match last week. Kid is tired of the lack of disrespect and offers to beat Razor again next week. With Kid gone, Razor talks about what he has been doing lately and now the Kid wants another piece of him? Sure, let’s do it. This was a simple story and they explained it just fine, but Lawler was REALLY distracting here and I’m not sure why he would do that.
Video on Owen Hart/Yokozuna vs. Men On A Mission. Holy sweet goodness that sounds horrifying.
Smoking Gunns vs. Rad Radford/Brooklyn Brawler
Brawler and Radford jump them from behind and send Billy outside but Billy is right back in with a double clothesline. Billy’s swinging neckbreaker drops Brawler and it’s time to crank on the arm. Bart comes back in and gets caught with a cheap shot from Radford as we talk about badly dressed celebrities. The comeback is on and everything breaks down, with the Sidewinder finishing Brawler at 2:48. Just a step above a squash.
Goldust is in Hollywood and quoting Night Of The Living Dead. He’s interested in hearing more about the Creatures of the Night and using his gold to get rid of the darkness.
Isaac Yankem vs. Scott Taylor
Say it with me: it’s Scotty 2 Hotty. Yankem sends him into the corner and grabs a chokeslam as there are a lot of empty seats to be seen. The DDS finishes Taylor at 2:14.
Todd Pettengill tells us What’s Happening In Your House and says he has a new “tartar control attitude”. We hear about the Triple Header main event, with Diesel/Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart/Yokozuna, with all titles on the line in one match. As a bonus, if anyone is intentionally disqualified or causes a countout, the titles change hands anyway. The rest of the card gets a rundown as well and….well there’s a reason 1995 isn’t the most fondly remembered time.
For $25.00 + $3.95 shipping and handling, you get the Shawn Michaels pleather hat and sunglasses, plus a poster. That’s a heck of a deal actually.
Shawn is ready to beat Sid.
Intercontinental Title: Sycho Sid vs. Shawn Michaels
Michaels is defending and Ted DiBiase is here with Sid. Some shots to the head in the corner annoy Sid and a flying clothesline takes him down. More lefts and rights have him on the floor but he comes back in and throws Shawn outside. That earns him a skinning of the cat and Shawn knocks him to the floor again, leaving Sid rather frustrated.
Back in and Sid hits a release spinebuster to drop Shawn hard and some of the frustration is relieved. Shawn gets sent onto the top and kicked out to the floor, where Sid drops him face first onto the apron. DiBiase validates his job by getting in some stomps and we take a break. Back with Sid hitting a one armed chokeslam but the powerbomb is broken up. There’s the flying forearm and a pair of superkicks retain the title at 7:21.
Rating: C+. They didn’t bother with anything complicated here as Shawn got beaten down and then come back with the big win in the end. Shawn knows how to do a comeback as well as anyone and he was around the peak of his first run at this point. Not exactly a classic, but it did what it needed to. This was also the match that Eric Bischoff infamously spoiled on Nitro and….yeah it really doesn’t change the fact that it was good enough.
Post match Shawn strips a bit and various fans approve while Lawler does not.
Post break, Shawn and Diesel are ready to win the Tag Team Titles at In Your House. Shawn laughing off the idea of losing the Intercontinental Title is very…well Shawn of him actually. They’re two dudes with attitude and they’ll be two chaps with all the straps.
We get a preview of next week’s show, complete with clips of the matches. That’s quite the change of pace and I don’t remember Raw doing that more than a few times ever. If nothing else, how often did they acknowledge that it was taped in advance?
Overall Rating: C. They had to rush into the In Your House main event and it makes sense to go with something quick like the Triple Header. The match was hammered home here and the Razor vs. Kid match should be good. Not the most eventful show, but as usual, it’s hard to get that annoyed at a show that runs an hour and has a completely decent main event.
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