Connor McGrath
WWF Monday Night RAW
March 27th, 1995 (taped March 13th, 1995)
Taped from the Memorial Civic Auditorium in Stockton, CA
Announcers: Gorilla Monsoon and Jim Ross
Photos courtesy of Stephen Gray and WWE Network
We get a recap of Bret Hart and Owen Hart’s feud from Survivor Series ’94 to today, narrated by Todd Pettingell to start off the show.
Gorilla Monsoon and Jim Ross are our announcers this week. Vince McMahon is in WWF Studios with Todd Pettingell, giving us a preview of WrestleMania XI. Todd says we’re gonna have exclusive interview with The Million Dollar Corporation *and* LT’s All Pro Team (in interest of fairness). Todd loves WrestleMania! It’s hot dogs! It’s limousines! It’s Superstars!
Our second video package of the night (and second in the first three minutes) is dedicated to Shawn Michaels and Diesel’s feud. Diesel has become the Face of the WWF. Hobnobbing with Dick Enberg and Magic Johnson! Playing at MTV’s Rock N Jock Celebrity Softball Game!
This drove Shawn Michaels mad with jealousy at his former sidekick’s success.
We get another look at the WrestleMania XI Press Conference too…
Todd Pettingell calls Diesel Vs HBK a “virtual reality” match. Virtual reality was so big in ’95, they compared it to things that had nothing to do with virtual reality. Man, I wonder what a Nintendo VirtualBoy is running on EBay these days.
Hold on a minute while we hear a word from our promotional sponsors…
Oh hey! A look at Salt N Pepa’s WWF Recording Session. Unfortunately, their song gets cut out. Stupid copyright law. What are the odds Bret Hart banged Salt and/or Pepa?
Vince McMahon says Super Bowls sometimes fail to live up to the hype but WrestleMania never does. Well…
Now a video package chronicling the build up to Bam Bam Bigelow Vs Lawrence Taylor. Bam Bam has the Million Dollar Team in his corner but LT’s got backup…
Reggie White cuts a quick promo about backing LT at WrestleMania XI.
Vince McMahon thinks Bam Bam Bigelow Vs LT will be the biggest donnybrook in WWF history. Todd brings up a good point about NFL Owners being upset about this match which is why we never saw an NFL player main event WrestleMania again… at least to this point…
Hold on! Jim Ross is gonna have a word with Bob Backlund! Backlund cuts a crazy old man promo. He might chicken wing Bret Hart tonight, he might chicken wing Bret six days from now.
Yes! A montage of Jeff Jarrett’s awesome debut vignettes. Ha ha. They’re going to rename the WWF, the Double J F! This video package recaps Double J’s Intercontinental Title run so far. This Backlund-Jeff Jarrett match from Sunday Night Slam looks interesting, I should check it out on YouTube. Very rare to see a Heel Vs Heel match in ’95.
Vince McMahon compares him and Todd to Siskel & Ebert, Burns & Allen, and Beavis & Butthead. Todd gets inexplicably offended. Oh great! Undertaker-King Kong Bundy feud recap. Undertaker and Paul Bearer cut a promo from what looks like a storage closet somewhere in Titan Towers.
Bret Hart is with Jim Ross. He cuts a promo on Backlund. Backlund better watch what Bret does to Owen because it’s a preview of what’ll happen Sunday!
No Holds Barred Match: Bret Hart Vs Owen Hart
I think this RAW is the final appearance of the multi colored, fluorescent WWF set. I *think* they debuted the set with R A W in giant letters the next week but we’ll see. I saw this match semi-recently on Bret’s last DVD set. I like that this one has a different vibe from their other awesome matches with both guys displaying their brawling skills rather than their considerable technical skills. Fairly intense stuff by ’95 WWF standards. I like Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon’s call of this match, portraying these guys’ hatred for each other as so deep that they’ll even risk losing their WrestleMania matches in six days just to get even on the other. It’s also interesting that these guys do a credible No Holds Barred match with the only weapon being an uncovered turnbuckle. Bret gets the win with the Sharpshooter after he slingshots Owen into the turnbuckle. This could very well be the best match we’ll see on RAW all year. Another ****+ match between Bret and Owen. Not to mention that this is way better than anything that was actually on WrestleMania XI later that week!
Todd tells us how to order pay per views. If only he was around today to tell people how to use the internet to subscribe to WWE Network.
Jonathan Taylor says being on Home Improvement and starring in Man of the House and The Lion King was awesome but not as awesome as appearing at WrestleMania XI!
The Million Dollar Corporation cuts a promo on Lawrence Taylor to close the show. Well, DiBiase and Bigelow cut promos while the rest of the members stand there and scowl. Bam Bam quotes Oran “Juice” Jones in his promo…
Vince gives us one final hard sell for WrestleMania XI by saying its the closest that the NFL will ever get to having a pay per view. What a weird sell. “Hey! Do you like watching the NFL for free? Why don’t you pay $29.95 to watch a former NFL player do something vaguely like football?”
This show was basically an informercial for WrestleMania XI but luckily, it had a great Bret-Owen match to prevent things from being a total waste. I’ll see everyone next week to recap a hopefully much more exciting/eventful episode!
Next week on RAW: It’s the night after WrestleMania! See the fallout from WrestleMania XI! Plus Bull Nakano takes on Alundra Blayze in a WWF Women’s Title match, The Allied Powers battle Well Dunn, and the undefeated Hakushi faces Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly!
