Connor McGrath
WWF Monday Night RAW
May 29th, 1995 (taped May 15th, 1995)
From Broome County Arena in Binghamton, New York
Announcers: Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler
The show opens with Jeff Jarrett in his sweet outfit with the flashing sunglasses. I gotta feeling. Tonight’s gonna be a good night. Tonight’s gonna be a good, good night. Jeff Jarrett says he’s not scared of The Undertaker because he’s the world’s greatest singer and the world’s greatest dancer. The lights go out and Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie get freaked out and scared.
We see Diesel in the hospital. He just had reconstructive elbow surgery after being powerbombed by SID and we’ll get a word with him tonight. We’re also gonna have an interview with Alundra Blayze and Jerry Lawler’s “sushi eating friend” (their words not mine!) Hakushi! But first, SID!
Psycho Sid (with Ted DiBiase and Tatanka) Vs Mike Khoury
SID is joined by his tag team partner at King of the Ring, Tatanka. We get a Dr. James Andrew reference as Vince rattles off the great athletes Dr. Andrews has performed surgery on. Including Diese!. SID squashes are always fun as hell. SID wins with the Powerbomb. SID grabs the jobber’s hair and YELLS at KHOURY asking him if it hurt! SID screams KILL BIGELOW! KILL DIESEL!
We get some footage of Diesel in the hospital and get a word with world renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews. Was Diesel’s injured elbow the reason why he didn’t have a one on one match at King of the Ring ’95 or was the tag match always in the cards? That Diesel and Bam Bam Vs Tatanka and SID main event always seemed second rate to me, even as a seven year old superfan. Maybe it would have been a good RAW main event but for one of the biggest PPVs of the year!? Diesel rocks a Team IcoPro tanktop at one point during this segment.
The Roadie tries to calm down Double J. Double J insists that he’s not scared!
Adam Bomb Vs Bob Cook
Vince says there’s a lot of fireworks this Memorial Day Weekend but the real fireworks are on RAW with Adam Bomb in action. Vince McMahon announces that WrestleMania will air on broadcast television for the first time this Sunday with a one hour version of WrestleMania XI on NBC. I thought the WrestleMania XI special aired on Fox (and three or four months after this?) Lawler hypes Twilight Zone: The Movie airing on USA Network on Thursday. That movie scared the hell out of me as a kid. Watched it four or five years ago… doesn’t hold up. Like a lot of these RAWs! Adam Bomb wins with the flying clothesline.
Todd Pettingell gives the first King of the Ring ’95 report. He says Connie Chung is looking for a job with the WWF broadcast team. 1995! Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow Vs SID and Tatanka is our main event. We see a Diesel and Bam Bam promo with Dok Hendrix from Superstars. Bam Bam says he wants to leave The Million Dollar Corporation banged up and broke but his accent makes it sound like, “He wants to leave The Corporation Bang Bros”… Todd Pettingell asks Jerry Lawler if he’ll accept Bret Hart’s challenge. Lawler gets frustrated. He calls Bret Hart an idiot, Bret doesn’t want to get beat up again!
Monday Night RAW is brought to you by Sega, creators of Genesis, Game Gear and Sega CD. Sega CD was still around in ’95?
Hakushi Vs John Snakowski
Shinja has a burlap bag with a mannequin head of Bret Hart in it that Hakushi pulls out. Lawler says that’s the best Bret’s ever looked. Vince McMahon is APPALLED and says Bret’s gonna get Lawler for this. Snakowski got his tights from the non-union equivalent of the guy who made Randy Savage’s tights. Hakushi wins with the somersault splash.
Todd Pettingell announces that “The Big Cat” Ernie Ladd and Ivan Putski are the newest inductees into the WWF Hall of Fame! The WWF Hall of Fame Class of ’95 will be inducted the night before King of the Ring.
Vince McMahon intros Alundra Blayze. Lawler makes a bunch of jokes about her busted up nose. Alundra Blayze says she’s ready to defend the title against Bertha Faye and she’s gonna fight off her and her little boyfriend Harvey Whippleman.
We get an ad for next week’s RAW. Will British Bulldog become the third member of the Hart Dynasty in a row to win King of the Ring? He’ll have to get past his brother-in law and winner of last year’s King of the Ring, Owen Hart to qualify!
Men on a Mission Vs Gary Scott & Aaron Ferguson
Vince talks about British Bulldog’s Electric Chair Drop of Mabel the other week on Superstars. Could British Bulldog be the ’95 King of the Ring? Well, it certainly won’t be Mabel!
Oh wait..
Mabel will meet the winner of Undertaker/Double J in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament. Mabel squashes one of the jobbers to get the win.
Todd from King of the Ring ’95 headquarters gives us a rundown of who has qualified for the King of the Ring! Mabel qualified with a win over Adam Bomb at In Your House. Pettingell calls Mabel an early favorite. Bob Holly qualified over Mantaur on RAW. Shawn Michaels qualified against King Kong Bundy last week. Kama qualified by beating Duke Droese on Superstars this weekend! The Undertaker andJeff Jarrett will wrestle for a spot later tonight and Owen Hart and British Bulldog will try to qualify next week!
Barry Didinsky shills an AWFUL glow in the dark Undertaker “He’s Got Soul” t-shirt. I hope it’s on EBay…
King of the Ring Tournament Qualifier: Jeff Jarrett (with The Roadie) Vs The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer)
Honestly, never knew these guys faced off at this point in their career. Vaguely remember their match at In Your House: DeGeneration X after Jeff Jarrett returned from WWF. A pair of heshers in the third row throw the metal horns and headbang to Undertaker’s entrance. This is about what I’d expect an Undertaker-Double J match to be in ’95. Jeff Jarrett’s got some sweet zebra striped tights. YES! Paul Bearer takes his jacket off and chases around The Roadie. Undertaker catches Jeff Jarrett off the top with a sweet chokeslam. He wins after a second chokeslam and the tombstone. Not a bad main event. Metalheads in the third row love it. The Undertaker has qualified for the King of the Ring!
Show closes with a Bob Backlund campaign ad. He’s going to require the youth to listen to classical music! Rock N Roll has ruined America and should be abolished. HUH! Vince asks WHAT WILL MAN MOUNTAIN ROCK THINK OF THIS!? Man Mountain Rock will be here next week!
Next Week on RAW: RAW is LIVE from Struthers, Ohio. In our feature match, “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith takes on his brother in law, the 1994 King of the Ring (and one half of the WWF Tag Team Champions) Owen Hart in a qualifier for the 1995 King of the Ring Tournament. Plus Psycho Sid and Savio Vega in action!
