Monday Night Raw – July 24, 1995: Those Guys. Again.
Monday Night Raw
Date: July 24, 1995
Location: Louisville Gardens, Louisville, Kentucky
Attendance: 4,181
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Vince McMahon
We’re done with In Your House II and Diesel is still the WWF Champion, having beaten Sid in a not so great lumberjack match. Shawn Michaels won the Intercontinental Title from Jeff Jarrett in a far better match. Other than that though, we are on the way to Summerslam and that might not go so well. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
We open with a look back at Shawn Michaels winning the Intercontinental Title.
Opening sequence.
Shawn Michaels vs. Jimmy Del Ray
Non-title and Jim Cornette is here with Del Ray. Michaels starts fast by taking him down for an armbar but Del Ray is right back up. A springboard out of the corner doesn’t work for Del Ray as Michaels knocks him to the floor. Back in and Del Ray hits a quick DDT and takes over, including a boot rake to the eyes. Some hip gyrating sets up a (gyrating) neckbreaker for two on Michaels and we hit the chinlock. Del Ray misses a top rope splash and Michaels hits a running forearm. A superkick drops Tom Pritchard (who was apparently here too) and another finishes Del Ray at 5:19.
Rating: C+. Well, this was at least better than Michaels’ match against IRS last week, mainly just because it was shorter. Michaels is on a roll at this point and he shouldn’t be needing that much time to take out someone like Del Ray. Not a good match here, but less bad, and for this time period, I’ll take that.
Post match Michaels teases stripping, as he tends to do.
We look at Jeff Jarrett’s live singing debut, but there are accusations that it was NOT REALLY HIM. And yes, you’re supposed to be interested by this.
We look at Shawn Michaels beating Jarrett again.
We recap Bret Hart vs. Hakushi, who had some great matches.
Smoking Gunns vs. John Faulkner/Rick Stockhauser
The jobbers have matching tights so they might be a regular team. Faulkner’s headlock doesn’t last long on Billy but it’s off to Stockhauser for an elbow. Billy fights out of trouble with ease and Bart comes in for the left hands. The Sidewinder finishes in a hurry at 2:01.
Merchandise shill….for Jeff Jarrett gear.
Goldust is coming.
Fatu wants to make a difference in his hometown of San Francisco.
Waylon Mercy vs. Gary Scott
Mercy hammers him down at the bell to start and chokes away. A hard whip into the corner has Scott in more trouble and the sleeper finishes for Mercy at 2:02.
We go to the Summerslam Control Center, which turns into a recap of In Your House. Ah the days of pay per view replays. King Mabel is ready to come for Diesel next, because we have to see some horrible things from time to time.
Bret Hart vs. Hakushi
Hakushi has Shinja with him. We get a little weird before the match as Hakushi pulls out a Hart mannequin head. Uh, right. Hart goes after Shinja to start so Hakushi jumps him from behind. Back in and Hakushi’s Vader Bomb hits knees, allowing Hart to hammer away. The backbreaker connects and Hart slugs at the ribs. A whip into the corner is reversed and Hart goes back first into the post as we take a break.
We come back with Hakushi hitting a nasty kick to the face, followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. A top rope headbutt to the back gets two and we’re off to the nerve hold. That’s broken up and Hakushi rolls him to the floor and we take another break. Back with Hakushi connecting with a Asai moonsault but Hart is right back up. They get back in for a backbreaker into a middle rope elbow, followed by the bulldog for two on Hakushi. Hart gets knocked down again but he avoids a top rope headbutt. The superplex into the Sharpshooter makes Hakushi give up at 16:24.
Rating: B. Match of the month on the show so far, which really shouldn’t be a surprise. They’ve been in the ring before and worked well together so it makes sense to give them a rematch. Hart can work well with anyone and Hakushi was ready to hang in there with him. Yes I’m as shocked as you are that Hart stole the show, as he was doing it time after time in this era.
Post match Hart beats up Shinja for a bonus. Cue Jean-Pierre Lafitte to steal the bag from before the match.
Dean Douglas has the Report Card, where he talks about the importance of knowledge. This was bad, but what else were you expecting?
Jerry Lawler yells at Shawn Michaels and doesn’t see much in his future. Michaels isn’t impressed to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. The main event helped carry things here, but you could only expect so much when the focus was on Hart and Michaels. There are only so many talented stars on the roster at this point and this focused on two of the really good ones. They rest of the show was the usual collection of squashes, but Hart vs. Hakushi is worth a look.
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