Connor McGrath
WWF Monday Night RAW
March 20th, 1995 (Taped March 13th, 1995)
Taped from the Memorial Civic Auditorium in Stockton, California
Announcers: Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette
We open with the credits. Jim Cornette says this is the BIGGEST night in the history of the World Wrestling Federation. The Heavenly Bodies are going to be winning the WWF Tag Team titles from The Smoking Gunns. Steve “Mongo” McMichael will be here on color commentary for a match plus King Kong Bundy (who has called out the great Reggie White) will be facing two men at once!
Razor Ramon Vs Henry O. Godwinn
HOG gets a jobber-ish entrance or lack thereof. He’s just standing in the ring at the top of the show. Danny Davis is refereeing. His hair isn’t slicked back like it usually is and he kind of looks like Moe from the Three Stooges (not to be confused with Mo from Men on a Misson). Razor Ramon is distracted by the controversy at the end of last week’s show with Bob Backlund and Jeff Jarrett. Vince McMahon plugs Jim Ross reports on the WWF Superstars Hotline. Jim Cornette makes a joke about JR creeping at a Madonna MTV Pajama Party. The Roadie comes out after our commercial break to troll Razor. Jim Cornette says Roadie is here to protest Double J getting “hornswoggled” last week. 123 Kid comes out to whoop The Roadie. HOG jawjacks 123 Kid and this distraction allows Razor to hit a kind of awkward Razor’s Edge for the win. Not a bad match. HOG was kind of directionless as a heel. HOG, gentlemen that he is helps poor Roadie to the back.
Vince McMahon interviews Razor Ramon & 123 Kid. Razor’s angry Backlund is going to get a IC Title shot and Bret-Backlund might end up being a title match. He’s gonna make sure that he’s the guy getting a shot at the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania XI!
Speaking of Backlund, we get footage of the end of last week’s RAW and Backlund stealing Barry Horowitz’s title shot.
Todd Pettingell hypes Sunday Night Slam! Lex Luger and Tatanka settle their feud inside a steel cage plus Bam Bam Bigelow Vs Sione and Diesel speaks up!
Jim Cornette storms off in protest of Steve McMichael joining the announce booth and to prep The Heavenly Bodies for their WWF Tag Team Titles match.
Ad for the 2nd Annual WWF Fan Fest, sponsored by Tyco R/C Maximum Heat. Imagine getting an autograph from Razor Ramon! Hey! The casket that Undertaker built for Kamala is gonna be there! No one cares for their fans like WWF does.
Another LT interview. LT’s not afraid of snakes, alligators, or Bam Bam Bigelow. April 2nd! WrestleMania XI.
We get footage of Bam Bam Bigelow knocking Doink down with a football tackle on the Action Zone as the Million Dollar Corporation. Hey Nikolai Volkoff is still with the company!
Vince McMahon introduces former Chicago Bears great, current Green Bay Packers, and most importantly, a member of LT’s Team… Steve “Mongo” McMichael. Steve McMichael enters to the “WrestleMania” theme (also known as Linda McMahon’s theme). Mongo shakes hands with the ring announce but completely ignores Tim White and the jobbers in the ring. SMH. Mongo’s got a very 1995 House of Blues leather jacket and blue leather pants on.
Handicap Match: King Kong Bundy (with Ted DiBiase) Vs Adam Kroomes and Raven Clark
King Kong Bundy has called out Reggie White. Mongo thinks Reggie’s taken out bigger guys than Bundy. There’s a fan with a sign that says RAW is WAR. Hey, pal! The show wouldn’t be called that for another two years. If you’re wondering if Mongo fared any better as a WWF announcer than he did as a WCW announcer, NOPE. Mongo seems like a personable dude but man, he just comes across as a doof on commentary. Bundy wins with an Avalanche and pins one of the jobber with one foot. Kama comes out and says he’s sick of Mongo talking. You and me both. Kama cuts a promo sans mic. Mongo gives Kama one of the weakest shoves in the history of wrestling. Uh oh! Kama throws a soda in Mongo’s face. The two have a pull apart brawl. The stooges and Vince McMahon try to break it up and they were obviously trying to recapture the magic of the Bam Bam-LT angle at the Rumble two months earlier. It didn’t work. I’m in the process of watching the first season of Monday Nitro right now and it’s odd to see Mongo on RAW just a few months before he’d be openly insulting WWF on national TV.
WrestleMania XI report. I don’t think you could have found a more dead eyed, vacant picture of SID than the one they use for the Diesel Vs HBK graphic. Shawn Michaels accuses Diesel of being a suck up. HBK sucks up to no one! Paul Bearer & Undertaker are appalled Ted DiBiase took the urn. The Undertaker says King Kong Bundy will meet his final demise at WrestleMania XI. Jim Cornette interrupts Todd’s report. Go Cornette go! It’s main event time!
WWF Tag Team Titles Match: The Smoking Gunns (c) Vs The Heavenly Bodies (with Jim Cornette)
Vince McMahon says WWF will have a special on Home Shopping Network before RAW next week where they’ll be selling WrestleMania XI merchandise. Oh man. Hope Don West was there! Vince calling the match solo is weird but he reins in a lot of his goofy mannerisms and reminds me that Vince actually was a pretty damn good announcer at one point. I laugh about Vince being APPALLED by Gigolo Jimmy Del Rey’s “undulating” dance moves. Gunns win when Billy hits a backslide on the Gigolo. Very solid tag team match as you’d expect from these two teams.
We get footage of the stars of the World Wrestling Federation appearing at a Magic Johnson charity event. Diesel, Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, 123 Kid, The Undertaker, and Paul Bearer took part in the event. Magic Johnson and Diesel reminisce about their days playing high school basketball in Michigan. Undertaker wearing sunglasses with his ’95 ring gear is a weird sight.
Vince McMahon and Cornette hype Sunday Night Slam in six days. Cornette shoos away a fan mugging for the camera.
We get promos from Tatanka and Lex Luger to end the show. They’re hyping the match on Sunday Night Slam more than the Bret-Owen rematch that’s actually on RAW next week!
Next Week on RAW: It’s the last RAW before WrestleMania XI! And in our main event, we get a rematch of one of the most memorable matches of WrestleMania X as Bret Hart takes on his younger brother Owen in a No Holds Barred Match!
