Connor McGrath
WWF Monday Night RAW
February 27th, 1995 (Taped February 20th, 1995)
From the Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia
Announcers: Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette
The show starts off with the debut of the “For Over 50 Years—the most revolutionary force in sports entertainment” open.
Hey! We got new credits too! Goodbye, Damien Demento and Kamala. 🙁 Unfortunately, these credits aren’t very good. Lot of camcorder footage which I guess is supposed to make the show look “edgy” but it just looks very dated to me. I do like the closed captioning logo bouncing along to the theme.
Vince says tonight, we’ll hear from Lawrence Taylor himself. Plus the conclusion of one of the hottest feuds in World Wrestling Federation history (roll eyes) as Tatanka takes on Lex Luger.
Lex Luger cuts a promo in a sweet American flag windbreaker. Luger recalls their feud. Two weeks ago on Action Zone, Tatanka took things too far by attacking Chief Jay Strongbow. Luger will have The Chief in his corner to keep an eye on DiBiase and Luger DARES Tatanka to try and mess with The Chief again.
Lex Luger (With Chief Jay Strongbow) Vs Tatanka (With Ted DiBiase)
I’m still not sure why Luger’s WWF career never worked. Seemed like the type of guy Vince loved and Vince dumped all of his resources into promoting him and tried everything with him but the fans never got behind Luger.. Really he should have been the one to turn heel at SummerSlam ’94 instead of Tatanka. Both guys’ careers in WWF were never quite the same after that. Fans chant USA as Tatanka stalls. Oh, irony. I laugh as Cornette counters Vince’s rant about Tatanka taking dirty money by saying that technically speaking, almost all money is dirty since it goes through so many hands!
Tatanka tears off Chief Jay’s headdress and destroys it. Then we get the sight of Tatanka having to sell chops from an elderly man. Luger kicks Tatanka’s ass and Tatanka bails. Luger carries Tatanka back to the ring. Is it time for the Rebel Rack? No, Tatanka stalls some more. Tatanka eventually bails for good and gets counted out. Lex Luger wins but he’s got no satisfaction from that victory. He’s gonna have to get revenge on Tatanka at (a pre) WrestleMania XI (hype special).
We have Lawrence Taylor live via satellite. He looks contemplative. Cornette says he’s gonna apologize!
We get footage of a battle royal from Superstars this past weekend. Lawler managed to avoid elimination by hopping around ringside on one foot until Bret Hart stomps on the other foot, causing Lawler to be eliminated. I laugh. Looked like a pretty star studded battle royal with British Bulldog, 123 Kid, and MANTAUR being some of the other participants. I think this was the one where Shawn Michaels eliminated himself at the beginning after every other guy in the match angrily went after him.
Owen Hart Vs Larry Santo
I’m not sure why Cornette & Lawler are calling Bret Hart a racist. They haven’t really explained it and it just seems like a lame explanation to set up the soon to happen Bret/Hakushi feud. Owen Hart and a mystery partner want a shot at the Smoking Gunns for the WWF Tag Team Titles. Santo’s mannerisms are very animated. Vince says The New York Daily News has been talking about the possibility of Bam Bam Bigelow Vs Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania XI. Hey, when you got such high class publications talking about you, you gotta bring it up. Owen wins an entertaining squash with the Sharpshooter.
Vince McMahon says USA Today have also been talking about the rumors of a Bam Bam Bigelow Vs Lawrence Taylor match at WrestleMania XI. LT says Bam Bam pushes like a sissy. LT’s heard about the rumors and he’s weighing his options. LT backtracks a bit by pointing out Bam Bam’s a great athlete. Bam Bam chimes in. He defends his loss to 123 Kid at Royal Rumble by saying 123 Kid is a member of the New Generation and he’s more of a man than anyone LT would ever meet. Bam Bam Bigelow challenges Lawrence Taylor to meet him at the WrestleMania XI Press Conference at the Harley Davidson Cafe in Times Square tomorrow afternoon. LT says he’ll be there and walks off. Bam Bam rants to the heavens and Vince cuts him off. Man, Bam Bam’s looked like an idiot throughout this feud so far.
Doink The Clown (with Dink) Vs Bob Cook
Vince hypes Hourly Updates from Jim Ross on the WrestleMania XI Press Conference tomorrow on the WWF Superstars Hotline. Oh man, the days when the greatest pro wrestling announcer of all time was on hotline. Glad that we don’t have any more Doink and Dink matches left. As I type that, Dink shakes his ass in Bob Cook’s face. HOW DID WCW THINK THEY COULD COMPETE WITH THIS!?
Speaking of WCW, it’s kind of cool to see jobbers I associate with WCW like Bob Cook, Rip Rogers, and Larry Santo on these TV tapings down South. Vince says Doink & Dink are headed to Mardi Gras in New Orleans after tonight’s show. They love the party atmosphere in New Orleans. Doink & Dink should have appeared at WrestleMania this year! Doink wins with the Whoopee Cushion.
Ad for next week’s RAW narrated by Todd Pettingell. The first two entrants in the Royal Rumble, Davey Boy Smith and Shawn Michaels were the last two participants and next week, they face off on RAW. If Bulldog doesn’t get attacked by HBK’s new psycho bodyguard SID before the match.
Kama Vs Ken Raper
Uh…this jobber couldn’t have been given a better last name. Jim Cornette mulls over the possibility of a Kama-Mantaur match. Oh good lord…We get the return of color commentators reading promo copy as Cornette reads a promo for TekWar. Vince says Cornette wins a free gift certificate to Weight Watchers for reading that. Yuk yuk yuk. Kama yells about how he doesn’t get any competition as he dominates Raper. See, they’re building up a guy that’s not even on the card outside of being in the corner of Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event better than Bam Bam himself.
British Bulldog joins us via satellite. Bulldog is looking forward to settling the score with Shawn Michaels. He says Shawn Michaels and Sid can’t take down the Bulldog. Vince gives another plug for the WrestleMania XI Press Conference at the Harley Davidson Cafe. You think Eric Bischoff was pissed that Harley Davidson let WWF do a press conference at their cheesy restaurant…
Todd Pettingell hypes the press conference as well. Diesel, Shawn Michaels, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Lawrence Taylor will all be there. The public is invited but if you can’t make it, call the Superstars Hotline!
Next Week on RAW: It’s a clash between the final two in the ’95 Royal Rumble as Royal Rumble Winner and #1 WWF World Title Contender Shawn Michaels takes on The British Bulldog, the man who almost won the Rumble. Plus a match that could main event any arena in the country, Duke “The Dumpster” Droese Vs Steven Dunn, of Well Dunn.
