Monday Night Raw
Date: October 16, 1995
Location: Grand Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

We come to the end of a taping cycle with the go home show for In Your House: Great White North and that means it is time for the big final push. Instead of building off of the pretty awesome beatdown segment on last week’s show, we are building off everyone talking about it for about thirty minutes after the match. Other than that, we have Bret Hart vs. Isaac Yankem in a cage match before Bret has nothing to do at the pay per view. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with dueling dentist/teeth themed promos from Bret Hart and Isaac Yankem/Jerry Lawler inside a cage. You have Bret Hart, one of the best wrestlers of all time, doing dentist lines. Is it any wonder why it didn’t take Nitro long to catch up?

Opening sequence.

Dean Douglas and Mabel have been fined $7,500 each for last week’s big attack.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Doink The Clown

Doink gets practical to start by grabbing Helmsley’s nose and drags him around. A head knocker makes it worse as commentary makes mention of Shawn Michaels getting beaten up by some undisclosed number of Marines (that number would wind up being one) at a nightclub in Syracuse, New York. A small package and backslide give Doink two each but Doink misses a middle rope crossbody. The Pedigree finishes for Helmsley in short order.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here, even if it is still weird to have such a young and unproven Helmsley. At the same time, Doink being around in late 1995 is almost hard to fathom. This was just a way to get Helmsley on the show as WWE seems to think something of him, as they probably should have.

Barry Horowitz teaches Hakushi about baseball, but Hakushi thinks Hank Aaron was better than babe Ruth. Aaron was great and somehow underrated but come on.

President Gorilla Monsoon makes King Mabel vs. Yokozuna for In Your House.

Tag Team Titles: PG-13 vs. Smoking Gunns

The Gunns are defending and apparently this was originally a dark match but was added to the show as the taping cycle was stretched out to include another episode. Billy armdrags Wolfie to start and punches both of them down without much trouble. Ice comes in with a cartwheel and gets clotheslined down by Bart. Back up and Ice gets thrown at Wolfie as this is one sided so far. Wolfie manages to spin out of a hiptoss though and a running knee to the back puts Billy on the floor. A headlock grinds Billy down some more and we hear more about Shawn vs. the Marines.

We take a break and come back with a double elbow…not dropping Billy so he catapults Ice into Wolfie for the knock off the apron. Bart comes back in to clean house to no reaction and the Sidewinder retains the titles (with Ice tripping over the ropes as he tries to make a save, leaving Bart not even having to throw a punch).

Rating: C-. PG-13 was little more than a side trip for the Gunns, who won the titles a few weeks ago and need some better opponents than a couple of small guys from the USWA. The Gunns were the definition of a pretty good team in a terrible era for tag wrestling so this was the kind of thing they had to do far too often.

We look at Bertha Faye crushing Alundra Blayze to win the Women’s Title. The rematch is next week.

We get an interview from earlier this week with Jim Cornette promising that the British Bulldog would take the WWF Title from Diesel. Bulldog has turned his back on all of his friends to get ready and then last week he pinned Diesel on Raw. The suggestion that Yokozuna dropping the leg on Diesel let Bulldog wins has him less than happy, with promises that he’ll beat Diesel anyway.

A new guy named Ahmed Johnson talks about honor (I think?) which he covers in a story about his mom earning minimum wage to take him to a WWF show and him working hard in school to thank her. His promos really hard that hard to understand and that was only one of several problems that held him back.

Dean Douglas vs. Joe Dorgan

Douglas wrestles him to the mat as we talk about Shawn Michaels being pulled from a car by ten individuals, who beat him up despite him still being unconscious. Dorgan gets in a dropkick as we hear from Shawn on the phone. Shawn makes it clear that he will be at In Your House no matter what as Douglas finishes fast with a fisherman’s suplex.

The cage is set up, along with Jerry Lawler’s shark cage. Lawler is not pleased.

In Your House rundown.

Goldust is ready for Marty Jannetty and promises to give him a makeover.

We recap King Mable vs. Undertaker over the last few months, capped off by Mabel and Yokozuna crushing Undertaker’s face last week.

Paul Bearer says that while Undertaker’s face is injured, he will return soon to hurt people.

Bret Hart vs. Isaac Yankem

Inside a cage in what was again originally a dark match that was added into the show, meaning the effort might not be so strong. Yankem hammers away in the corner to start but Bret comes back with some right hands. There’s the Russian legsweep to drop Yankem but it’s too early for Bret to escape. Bret cuts Yankem off as well, only to get dropped with a shot to the face. Lawler doesn’t want Yankem to leave, instead saying to “stomp a mudhole in him and walk it dry.”

Another escape attempt is cut off and Bret stomps Yankem down, only to get caught near the door. For some reason the referee can’t get the door open, which has Lawler revealing that he has switched the lock. We take a break and come back with Yankem going up and getting pulled right back down. The Sharpshooter goes on for a good while, at least until Bret decides he can go up.

Lawler is right there to cut him off though, drawing out Gorilla Monsoon to order his lackeys to put Lawler in the shark cage. Lawler, who is scared of heights, is raised into the air and screaming commences. Bret is pulled back over the top and slammed down as Vince is cracking up over Lawler screaming about a nose bleed. They keep slowly hitting each other as Lawler’s nose is bleeding (Vince: “You’re ok! You’re alright!”) and we take another break.

Back again with Lawler on his knees and screaming for help as Bret slugs away in the corner again. The side slam (not a backbreaker for some reason) lets Bret get over the top, only to be pulled back in. The DDS (yes DDS) plants Bret but he’s back up for another save as the crowd is just GONE. Yankem drops him again so Lawler throws the key down, allowing Yankem to….not open the door as Bret makes a save. Bret throws the key into the crowd, hits Yankem with the usual, and FINALLY climbs out to win.

Rating: D. Oh heck no, as this went about twenty minutes and had Bret in second gear at best. It was obvious that this wasn’t supposed to be on TV and was all about the live crowd, who didn’t care either. Horrible match which had no business making it to air but did anyway because they needed something to fill in most of the second half of this cobbled together show.

Some cable malfunctions leave Lawler hanging in the cage to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. This is the kind of show that gives 1995 WWF its reputation. The wrestling was bad, the stories weren’t interesting, and it was there to set up a Diesel vs. British Bulldog main event. Nitro felt like such a breath of fresh air over this stuff, which was literally built around two dark matches for the sake of getting another show together. Awful stuff and an all time bad episode.

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: October 2, 1995
Location: Grand Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

I’m back to Raw as the WWF is on the way towards In Your House: Great White North. In this case, that means WWF Champion Diesel will be defending against the British Bulldog, which is as In Your House of a main event as you can get. Other than that, we are in that weird period between Summerslam and Survivor Series so this isn’t the hottest stretch. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Yokozuna accidentally splashing Owen Hart last week, allowing the Smoking Gunns to take the Tag Team Titles from them.

Here’s a quick clip of Lawrence Taylor beating Bam Bam Bigelow on the Wrestlemania Special from over the weekend, as we look at a match from about six months ago.

Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid

This is billed as the last match between the two and that isn’t the most out there of possibilities. Two weeks ago, Dean Douglas helped 1-2-3 Kid beat Razor (which Kid didn’t see) so tonight it’s a fair fight. Razor sends him outside to start but Kid is right back in with the rapid fire kicks in the corner. The fall away slam gives Razor two, only to have Kid come back with another kick for two of his own.

Cue Douglas to watch in the aisle as Razor punches Kid down but he leaves as Kid makes the comeback. Razor hits one heck of a clothesline for the pin and yes it’s as out of nowhere as it sounds. Hold on though as Kid slaps Razor in the face and I guess we’re just going to keep going. Razor chops him in the corner and grabs the abdominal stretch. A charge in the corner hits Kid’s raised boot though and we take a break.

Back with apparently a third fall, as Razor powerbombed him for the pin during the break, only to have Kid want to keep going. The belly to back superplex sets up the Razor’s Edge, but Razor lets him go and grabs a small package to pin Kid, who is already out cold thanks to the superplex.

Rating: C-. This was a weird one as Razor more or less squashed him three times in a row with Kid only managing a few kicks. Commentary kept hyping up the idea of it being about respect, which worked well enough as Kid wouldn’t stay down despite clearly being outclassed. Odds are there is more to this in the future, even with this one sided beating.

Respect is shown post match but Kid grabs a rollup for two, with the referee just going with this. Kid tells him to hit the Razor’s Edge but Razor shakes his hand instead.

We look back at British Bulldog and Yokozuna wrecking Undertaker last week until Shawn Michaels and Diesel made the save.

IS OJ SIMPSON GUILTY??? Call in and vote, with your 50 cents a call going to help prevent child abuse. Eh it’s for charity so fair enough.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Barry Horowitz

Horowitz is fresh off beating Skip a few times so it’s pretty much the hottest time of his career. Helmsley takes him down into something like a cross armbreaker, allowing for a kick to the face. A takedown has Helmsley bailing to the ropes as Vince brags about last week’s Raw being the most watched in history. Helmsley’s curtsy sets up a suplex as Lawler talks about the Simpson case.

Back up and Horowitz grabs a sunset flip for two, which just seems to annoy Helmsley. As expected, this leads to a discussion of the Pope coming to the United States, and Vince would love for him to come to the charity show at Madison Square Garden. Horowitz gets an elbow to the face into an abdominal stretch rollup for two (Patterson and Brisco’s back grapple special in No Mercy) but the Pedigree finishes him off out of nowhere.

Rating: C-. This went a bit long but the good thing is that Horowitz felt like he could pull off the upset. That is what you get out of the wins over Skip, as Horowitz goes from a total loser to someone who just won a few weeks ago. At the same time though, Helmsley was still new and undefeated at this point so he wasn’t about to be in any serious jeopardy to anyone, let alone Horowitz.

PG-13 vs. Al Brown/Sonny Rogers

PG-13’s (they’re white rappers from Memphis) USWA Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line but they want the Smoking Gunns’ WWF Tag Team Titles. Rogers works on Ice’s arm to start but it’s a running dropkick/Russian legsweep combination to take him down. Wolfie D knocks Rogers down and dances a lot as Lawler talks about the Simpson case gain. Rogers gets away and brings in Brown to clean house as Vince still can’t remember which one is PG and which one is 13. The illegal Wolfie uses a distraction to hit a middle rope bulldog for two on Brown before an assisted splash finishes for JC Ice.

Rating: C. PG-13 looked decent in there for a team who was far better known for their gimmick than anything they did in the ring. It isn’t like they were ever going to be anything important in the company but the annoying rapping deal will always work to some degree. If they can have an ok squash at the same time, that’s even better.

CALL THE SIMPSON HOTLINE!

Bret Hart vs. Jean-Pierre LaFitte

Rematch from Bret’s victory at the most recent In Your House. LaFitte pounds him into the corner to start and a hard clothesline drops Bret again. A missed charge in the corner sends LaFitte crashing out to the floor, where Vince sends him into the steps. This lets Vince call the match a “demolition derby” for about the fifth time in less than three minutes.

Back in and Bret gets dropped throat first onto the ropes, setting up the chinlock. A heck of a clothesline keeps Bret in trouble and a top rope headbutt gets two. LaFitte’s Stinger Splash sets off the LET’S GO BRET chants but another clothesline cuts off another comeback (that’s working for LaFitte).

We take a break and come back with LaFitte missing the Cannonball but running Bret over for two more anyway. They head outside again with Bret being whipped hard into the steps, sending Lawler into euphoria on commentary (Lawler’s hatred of Bret was always funny). Back in and Bret is fine enough to start the comeback, with the Russian legsweep getting two. LaFitte grabs a Regal Roll but the Cannonball is cut off again. Bret superplexes him down and puts on the Sharpshooter for the win.

Rating: B-. The match got some time and while it wasn’t quite as good as their In Your House match, there is still something to be said about any Bret match going almost fifteen minutes. Not exactly a hidden gem, but Bret being able to get something out of a pirate in 1995 is pretty impressive. Good enough here, but Bret needs to move on to something more important.

Post match Lawler yells at Bret, who goes after him until Isaac Yankem jumps Bret from behind.

Post break Vince announces a cage match between Hart and Yankem at some point in the coming weeks.

Camp Cornette is ready for Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Diesel next week.

Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Diesel are ready for Camp Cornette next week.

The fans say OJ Simpson is not guilty by a margin of 51-49.

Overall Rating: C. This wasn’t the best show but the main event and setup for the cage match worked well enough. Bret going from fighting a pirate to fighting a king to fighting a dentist is about as 1995 as you can get but at least we didn’t have to deal with King Mabel. The rest of the show wasn’t much to see, though Razor vs. Kid was certainly something different.

 

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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