The Fed Zone: Reviewing WWF 1995

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ChristianCaged

ChristianCaged

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RAW #129

Date: 2 October 1995
Location: Grand Center; Grand Rapids, MI (taped)
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

TONIGHT: 1-2-3 Kid and Razor Ramon settle the score! Jean-Pierre Lafitte gets another crack at Bret Hart!

We're taped from Grand Rapids again this week. RAW actually won the live battle with Nitro last time, and in style. We'll see how long that lasts for them.

After a recap of last week's episode, Vince and Jerry welcome us to the show.

Razor Ramon def. The 1-2-3 Kid (2:55)
Razor (who is still yet to beat the Kid) takes charge of the match early and roughs him up using his physical advantage. Kid responds with speed and throws a series of kicks at Razor to level the playing field. Razor grabs him off one of them though and hits the fallaway slam. We see Dean Douglas in the aisle now, taking notes. Kid tries to mount a comeback and goes for a couple of leg drops, but the spinning heel kick misses Ramon, and Kid gets nailed with a clothesline for three. That's where I'm officially calling the match, but Kid is not done and wants another round. We go to a break just as Razor puts Kid in a stretch, and when we come back, we learn that Razor pinned him again. They're going at it for a THIRD round now, and Razor has the chance to go for the Razor's Edge, but pins Kid with a small package instead out of kindness. Post-match(es), Kid tries to restart things for a fourth round and gets two off a roll-up, but Ramon again resists the urge to Razor's Edge the little runt and they hug it out. I guess all is well? Probably not. This was an angle, not a match, and thus I won't give it a rating. I don't think it was very effective though; it made Kid (the soon-to-be heel) look like a loser and Razor (the babyface) seem like a dick.

It really seems like PPV reports are dead, as Vince and Jerry run down some of the matches for IYH4 (basically the same ones announced last week, plus Goldust vs. Marty Jannetty).

Also, tonight, you can vote on whether you think O.J. Simpson is innocent or not! All proceeds will go to a child abuse charity, which wasn't consulted about being associated with a poll about a murder trial and demanded an apology. D'oh!

Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Barry Horowitz (5:34)
Barry still has his theme music! F*** yeah! Hunter dominates the early exchanges with his technical prowess, but Barry continues trying to steal pins and makes Hunter, currently undefeated, look a little unsure of himself. Barry then gets a genuine near fall off a Thesz Press and rolls Hunter up for another two count. Let's go Barry! Hunter really looks all at sea here, but gets his deadly Pedigree over by catching Barry in a split second — just as it looked like Horowitz was on top — and hitting the finish. That ends it for the blue blood. Decent enough extended squash, and I appreciate they're giving Barry the opportunity to look like more of a legit roster member. HHH moves on to the next contest (which will be Fatu at IYH4). (*½)

PG-13 def. Al Brown & Sonny Rogers (3:45)
First appearance for PG-13 here, who came over to work for WWF as part of a talent exchange with USWA. They're actually the USWA Tag Team Champions, so you can think of this like The Heavenly Bodies coming over from SMW a few years prior (although these guys don't wrestle nearly as many matches). There's not much to this one and the jobbers barely get any offense at all. PG-13 are pretty good at playing to the crowd though and they work a pretty neat top-rope bulldog into otherwise unremarkable offense. A tilt-a-whirl combo finishes it for the newcomers.

Bret Hart def. Jean-Pierre Lafitte (12:04 shown)
Lafitte gets on top and is the aggressor early, but Bret absorbs that pressure and takes things outside, giving Lafitte a sick slam onto the side of the steps. That looked painful as shit! Back inside, Lafitte recovers and rattles Bret by sending him flying into the ropes, which Bret sells like a beast. A brief REST HOLD follows, but Lafitte gets bored of that and heads up top for a flying headbutt. That connects but only gets two. Bret recovers and rolls up Lafitte into a small package for two, but Lafitte kicks out. Back from a break, Lafitte stays on top but can't connect with a legdrop and has to take things out to the floor, where Bret gets absolutely HURLED into the steps. Ouchie! Bret gets back in the ring and begins to mount an offense, hitting the atomic drop and middle-rope elbow (the classics). Lafitte gets a roll-up to halt Bret's momentum, but Hitman kicks out and meets Lafitte at the top as he goes for a Cannonball. A superplex follows and the Sharpshooter is locked in for a quick submission. And with that Lafitte is basically done in the WWF (besides a short Quebecers revival in a few years). This wasn't as good as their PPV bout but a really enjoyable TV match for the time with only one commercial breaking it up. Both guys took some really stiff shots here too. (***)

Post-match, Bret celebrates and draws the ire of Jerry Lawler on commentary, as this feud will NEVER END. Bret and Lawler get into it and King gets sent over the barricade into the crowd, but the Big Red Dentist Isaac Yankem saves Lawler's bacon and DDTs Bret on the outside. We learn after a break that Gorilla has been watching and will sanction a STEEL CAGE match on RAW in a few weeks between Bret and Yankem.

Before we finish, we get promos from the two all-star teams clashing next week, and discover that 51% of WWF fans think O.J. isn't guilty! I'm sure that will swing things.

Not quite as good an episode as last time, although the main event here was the best match on either show. This has that slightly diluted, taped feel to it. Thumbs in the middle.

NEXT WEEK: All-star tag action as Camp Cornette team up to face Diesel, HBK and The Undertaker!
 
ChristianCaged

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RAW #130

Date: 9 October 1995
Location: Grand Center; Grand Rapids, MI (taped)
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

TONIGHT: Undertaker becomes the Third Dude with Attitude to take on Owen Hart, Yokozuna & The British Bulldog!

We're still in Grand Rapids and, for a second week in a row, RAW and Nitro were pretty much tied in the ratings.

Vince and Jerry welcome us to the show and we're right into the action, but not before we get a clip of Shawn Michaels getting all teary at the Survivor Series press conference. He loves kids, that's all!

Owen Hart, Yokozuna & British Bulldog def. Diesel, Shawn Michaels & The Undertaker (11:55 shown)
This is pretty much all the top talent — bar a few obvious names like Bret Hart and Razor Ramon — in one match. An early break means we join in progress, as Shawn works some catch sequences with Owen Hart, monkey flipping him across the ring. HBK then clotheslines Owen out of the ring and skins the cat, which always gets a pop from me. A massive brawl breaks up at this point, but Taker and Diesel DOUBLE BIG BOOT Yoko out the ring. After some order is restored Diesel and Bulldog tag in and mix it up a bit. It's just a quick tease for IYH4 though, as Big Daddy Cool tags in Taker, while Bulldog introduces Yoko. I don't need to see Yoko vs. Taker again, please and thank you. Undertaker goes up to the rope for OLD SCHOOL, but that doesn't keep Yokozuna down for long and he wipes out Taker with a big Samoan Drop. As usual, Undertaker barely sells and is up quickly to DDT his nemesis. Shawn enters now, as Waylon Mercy looks on from the shadows (you just lost to Savio bro, give it up), but Bulldog tags back in and roughs him up. A press slam and a lot of heat on Shawn follows, as we enter the commercials. Back from the break, Dean Douglas is out and taking notes, as everyone seems interested in this match. Owen tags Bulldog in as the heels continue to punish Shawn, and he levels HBK with a vertical suplex. Owen is back in now and puts Shawn in a REST HOLD. Shawn breaks free, only to get walloped with a spinning heel kick. That gets two as Owen goes up for a flying headbutt. Back from another break and both men are down (so I guess the headbutt missed), but Shawn makes it back to his corner and tags Diesel. He cleans house, but Owen clocks him from the outside and Diesel gets hoisted up for a power slam. That gets just two as Undertaker saves the day. The referee reprimands Taker, meanwhile Yoko drops the leg on Diesel. Bulldog covers and pins the champ! Pretty much exactly what you'd want from an all-star tag, setting up the PPV and weaving various other storylines in. None of the work was remarkable but I had fun with it. (***)

After the match, it's a full-on heel assault, as Dean Douglas and King Mabel join Camp Cornette in beating down the babyfaces. Everyone gets laid out, but this is famously where Undertaker fractures an orbital bone, leading to him wearing that weird mask for a while.

This beatdown is still being sold after another break, which means we should take it SERIOUSLY.

For some reason (maybe there were lacking for content or something) we now go back to Bret Hart vs. Isaac Yankem at SummerSlam, with Vince and Jerry commentating on the latter half of the match over the existing commentary? Feels like a waste of time, but this was all promotion for next week's Hart/Yankem cage match.

Fatu def. Skip (5:54)
Haven't seen Do the Right Fatu in a while, good to know he's still around. Skip tries to mash up Fatu's head on the turnbuckle, but he's Samoan you dummy! After a momentary distraction from Sunny on the outside, Fatu gets back to work, but his corner charge misses and Skip suplexes him to take charge. An enziguiri follows to give the Bodydonna a two count. Time for a REST HOLD now, as Skip continues to wear Fatu down. He then goes for a flying headbutt, plumbing new depths of stupidity. That has no effect on Fatu, who powers up. Sunny once again draws him outside for the distraction, allowing Skip to send Fatu head-first into the post. That knocks him loopy, finally. Back in the ring, Skip tries to end things with a vertical, but he can't get Fatu's big ass up. Fatu clocks him and flies off the top with a Samoan Splash (or an Uso Splash, if you will) for three. This was fine for a elevated squash, which Skip matches are at this point. Fun story with Skip being dumb about the attacks to Fatu's head. (*3/4)

Backstage, J.R. ambushes Cornette's crew in their dressing room, where some celebrations and strange hat-wearing is occurring. Cornette seems nigh-on orgasmic over the decimation earlier, which is pretty funny. Bulldog promises to take the WWF Championship back home to England at IYH4. Then Mabel storms in and threatens to bury Undertaker in the snow. I mean, his spirit literally levitated out of a casket a few years ago, I think he'll be fine.

A weird episode this week, although I did like the featured match quite a bit. That strange lull for the rest of the episode was just plain odd, though. Slight thumbs down here.

NEXT WEEK: The first Steel Cage match on RAW ever!
 
ChristianCaged

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RAW #131

Date: 16 October 1995
Location: Grand Center; Grand Rapids, MI (taped)
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

TONIGHT: Bret Hart meets Isaac Yankem inside a steel cage! Will Jerry Lawler end up in his own cage?!

It's the final episode of the taping and the go-home show for In Your House 4: Great White North. Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are our hosts, as usual.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Doink (3:51)
So Doink is still around, I guess? According to my research though, this is the official end of the line for him (although he'll pop up here and there for cameos). Meanwhile, we learn that Undertaker has a "crushed face", which is definitely an actual term real doctors use. As for the match, Doink does get to have some fun on his final RAW outing, grabbing the particularly large proboscis of Hunter and getting a small reaction from the audience. It doesn't last long though, as HHH takes over and elbow smashes the clown. Doink makes a small comeback with a backbreaker but misses an elbow drop. Hunter gets two off a suplex and then locks in a sleeper. Doink escapes a steals a few quick pins for near falls, but a cross body attempt fails and WHAM PEDIGREE. That's it for the clown. Just a squash really but as a slightly fond farewell to Doink (mainly the 1993 Matt Borne version), I shall rate it. (3/4*)

Backstage, Barry Horowitz and the virtually forgotten Hakushi have a discussion about baseball. This feels like it's building to something (maybe a short tag team run), but I can't remember that ever coming to fruition.

World Tag Team Championships: The Smoking Gunns (c) def. PG-13 (5:06)
The word is this wasn't even supposed to be aired originally, but hey, they got PG-13 over with this crowd already, so why not get some value out of them? Before the match gets underway, we learn from Gorilla Monsoon (via split screen) that Yokozuna will now face Mabel at IYH4. That'll put butts in seats. Anyway, the Gunns start like a house on fire and throw the smaller PG-13 boys around the ring with ease. Eventually, PG-13 use their cunning and work Billy outside of the ring, using the double-team action to stomp on Billy while keeping Bart out of reach. Important sidebar now, as we hear about the famous incident of Shawn getting his ass kicked by 10 military guys, which sounded pretty brutal. A lot of people try to get Shawn's ass for this one but really, I don't think many people would be able to take 10 soldiers at once in a fight. Anyway, Billy eventually gets to Bart in the corner after engineering a PG-13 collision and the Sidewinder quickly follows. Short and sweet here, with the Shawn stuff the bigger focus, but PG-13 didn't look too bad in there. We'll see them pop up again a bit further down the road. (*1/4)

Interview time now, but not in Grand Rapids. We go back to one of the WWF's tour shows this past weekend for a British Bulldog promo, as we look ahead to his match with Diesel at IYH4. Pretty bland, boring stuff here, even from the usually reliable Jim Cornette (who is basically a caricature of himself at this point).

Meanwhile, Ahmed Johnson makes his first RAW appearance in a vignette to educate us about HONOR. This was something alright.

Dean Douglas def. Joe Dorgan (2:08)
As of right now, the plan is for Dean Douglas to face Shawn Michaels at IYH4, but we all know that it doesn't happen. More on that in the PPV review. They actually go into more detail on the incident with HBK now, as Jerry seems to enjoy rubbing salt in the wound. I can't imagine Shawn took too kindly to that. Shawn then dials in and says he will be at the PPV on Sunday. In the ring, Douglas works away on Dorgan and finishes the job with a fisherman's suplex.

The shark cage has lowered, so it must be main event time. If Jerry interferes in the match, Gorilla has promised that he will go inside the cage! First, Vince runs down the card for the PPV:
  • WWF Championship: Diesel (c) vs. The British Bulldog
  • Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Dean Douglas
  • World Tag Team Championships: The Smoking Gunns (c) vs. Razor Ramon & The 1-2-3 Kid
  • Mabel vs. Yokozuna
  • Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Fatu
  • Goldust (debut) vs. Marty Jannetty
Can't say much of that excites me! Paul Bearer informs us that Undertaker will be back real soon and he's coming for revenge!

Bret Hart def. Isaac Yankem DDS in a Steel Cage Match (15:34)
Escape rules only here! Bret takes charge early and hits a lot of his big guns to kick us off, atomic dropping Yankem and hitting the middle-rope elbow before trying to climb the cage. The next few minutes involve Bret and Yankem taking it in turns to climb, which kind of worked when you had a hot feud in Bret and Owen, but just feels tedious here. Bret tries for the door next but Tim White can't open it, as Jerry Lawler has the key! Okay, that bit is kinda neat. Back from a break, Bret continues to wear Yankem down and applies a Sharpshooter, but that won't win it for him owing to the rules. He does some damage to Yankem though and goes for a climb again, at which point Jerry takes matters into his own hands and meets him at the top of the cage. Monsoon is out now, as this quickly becomes more about Lawler outside the cage than the match inside it. Bret punches Lawler to the floor and Monsoon has the drones put King in the shark cage, which ascends high in the air. He looks terrified and even gets a nosebleed, but it's not that high really. Back from another break, Yankem is in charge and connects with a DDT, but Bret stops him leaving the cage. Lawler throws him the key (surely they should have taken that off of him earlier?!) but Bret cuts him off before he can escape and then nails Yankem down low. Bret finally unlocks the door but isn't done with the dentist yet, unfortunately. A running bulldog and elbow drop puts Yankem down, and Bret decides to go the hard way, climbing out of the cage for the win while Jerry wails above. That pretty much ended the Bret/Lawler feud for good, as Bret finally moved on to better things after a year of treading water. Jerry would do angles and matches here and there, but he's mostly just a commentator from now on. Pretty terrible match here, as the camera was mostly focused on Lawler, and everything in the ring just felt pretty by-the-numbers. Apparently this was also intended as a dark match, but they decided to put it on TV. (*)

Jerry continues to hang high above the ring, as apparently there's a mechanical issue and they can't bring him down.

Awful episode this week, as I suspect a lot of these "fourth week of the taping" shows will be. The crowd was lifeless, the action was weak, but at least Bret finally gets to move on. Thumbs way down.

NEXT TIME: A 20-Man Battle Royal to determine a new No. 1 Contender for the Intercontinental Championship! And Alundra Blayze wants her Women's Title back!
 
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ChristianCaged

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In Your House 4

Date: 22 October 1995
Location: Winnipeg Arena; Winnipeg, MB
Commentary: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross

It's real cold up in the Great White North!

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We're fast approaching the end of this year as we stop off in Canada for another In Your House PPV. Jim Ross once again joins Vince and Jerry on commentary but he's not doing the whole Okie gimmick just yet.

As a quick sidebar, Jim Watts has walked out of the company after an argument with Vince. I'm sure nobody saw that coming. Gorilla has also announced that Shawn will relinquish his IC Title to Dean Douglas tonight!

Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Fatu (8:02)
Hunter has some cologne with him, clearly unconcerned about Rick Martel gimmick infringement. He tries to spray Fatu but the Samoan takes the fight to his opponent and sends HHH bumping out to the floor. Old school! Fatu beats up Hunter all around the ring but gets his neck caught in the ropes, which allows Hunter to take over. He nails Fatu with a piledriver now, which looks pretty nasty, and gets a near fall off a swinging neckbreaker. A quick REST HOLD now, but Fatu works out of it, only to get whipped into hard into the corner and decimated by a clothesline. Hunter gets a near fall for that and then goes for his finish, but. Fatu backdrops out of it and gets right back up from a DDT. Samoan! Strong head! He back drops Hunter again and takes him down repeatedly with clotheslines, before hitting a backbreaker to set up a flying headbutt. An ace crusher follows as Fatu goes up high for the splash. He misses the mark though and kick, wham, PEDIGREE! There's your finish, as Helmsley remains undefeated. Just your average midcard opener with decent energy levels but a lack of heat, as there wasn't much build (if any) for this one. Both guys put on a respectable showing, however. (**1/4)

Post-match, we lay some groundwork for HHH's first actual feud, as Henry O. Godwinn heads out with the slop bucket to chase Hunter to the back.

Backstage, Bulldog cuts a generic heel promo and criticises Canada for being really cold. Earth to Bulldog, you're literally from the north of England!

World Tag Team Championships: The Smoking Gunns (c) def. Razor Ramon & The 1-2-3 Kid (12:46)
So I guess Razor and Kid made up for good then? Kid and Billy kick us off with a fast-paced, catch-style sequence, as Billy hip tosses Kid around the ring. They both tag out and Bart gets control over Razor early, after he mocks their pistols (which sounds like, and probably is, double entendre). Bart goes flying out to the floor after Kid pulls the rope down on him and gives Razor some momentum. Back in the ring, Razor roughs up Bart and works the double-team with Kid, who hits a spinning heel kick on Bart. Razor tags in and hits a fallaway slam on Bart and then tags Kid in to send him flying him into Bart for a near fall. Backstage, Dean Douglas takes notes! Kid and Bart collide mid-ring now for the EVERYONE DOWN spot, and Bart makes it over to Billy first. Billy runs wild and hits a jumping elbow drop for two. It's the Gunns' turn to work the double-team now, as Bart destroys Kid with several backbreakers, before picking up Kid into the vertical position for a suplex-dropkick combo with Billy. Billy goes for a Stinger Splash next but that misses. In a pretty heelish move, Bart then sneaks in and pulls Billy on top of 1-2-3 Kid, which earns the scorn of the referee. Meanwhile, Razor reverses it and flips Kid over on top of Billy. That gets two as Kid desperately tries to tag Razor, and he does. Razor goes crazy and hits Billy with the Razor's Edge, which should win it. However, Kid wants the pin and calls Razor to tag him in. Billy then catches Kid by surprise and rolls him up for three! What a tool. I enjoyed this but it didn't feel like an extraordinary effort or anything. Kid is already playing into a more heel-adjacent character and style, which made him less fun to watch than normal. (**1/2)

Post-match, Kid is all pissy about losing the match for the team and fobs off Razor. He then gets in the Gunns' faces and fires away with kicks, which brings Razor back in to defend Kid. Things settle and Kid walks off, as frustrated with himself as ever.

Goldust def. Marty Jannetty (11:17)
Finally, the bizarre one makes his televised debut after months of build-up. The entrance pretty much confirms they're going to treat this guy like a big deal. Goldust tries a sneak attack on Marty to begin but he's wise to it and avoids before ending Goldust out of the ring. Goldust takes his sweet time heading back inside as Marty calls him a coward. Goldust rolls up Jannetty for q quick pin attempt, after which Marty catches Goldie with a hurracanrana. A series of leapfrogs end up with Jannetty getting levelled by a clothesline. Goldust heels it up with an eye rake and cinches in a REST HOLD. Jannetty works out of it, but Goldust sends him outside and slams his head into the steps. but then he flips Goldust back out to the floor Marty then does the same, until Goldust shoves him off the apron, and into the ringpost, which looked for nasty. As Jannetty makes his way back inside, Goldust hooks him up with a suplex and brings him back in for two. The REST HOLD is in again, which Marty escapes in a slightly botched manner. Jannetty goes for a Stinger Splash now, but Goldust responds and destroys him with a DDT for a near fall. Marty recovers and hits the Rocker Dropper, but a fist drop misses. He tries again from the top but Goldust gets the foot up and hits a front suplex (that would become the Curtain Call) for the three count. Not a great debut for Goldust, to say the least. Usually Marty's good value for a decent match with just about anybody, but something didn't click here and everything felt extremely clunky. (*)

Yokozuna fought King Mabel to a double count out (5:12)
I need this match like I need a hole in the head. Hopefully they've reinforced the ring! Clumsy start to this one, as Yokozuna and Mabel take turns throwing each other out of the ring. Back in the ring, Mabel seems to take the advantage with an avalanche in the corner, but a double tap is met with a stiff clothesline from Yoko. It stays even, as both men go for ass drops but miss. They then head out to the floor again, where Yoko somehow ends up crashing down on Cornette during a melee involving Sir Mo. This chaos outside leads to a double count out and that's that. Both men head back inside for a showdown, before hugging it out and acting like they both won. Perhaps the idea was that they outsmarted President Monsoon but it just seemed dumb and nobody cared. As you'd expect, this was awful and probably the worst PPV match of the year so far. At one point, Jim Ross calls it "as scientifically imperfect as you can get", which is code for "drizzling shits". And we didn't even get a finish! (DUD)

Ahead of the next match, HBK arrives with the Intercontinental Championship, as he cannot compete tonight and must relinquish it. I won't go into it all, but the story from Shane Douglas is that this was just a way of Shawn not having to put him over. Dean Douglas is also out there and gleefully accepts the belt. But...he's got to defend it right now against Razor Ramon. If you ask me, it actually makes booking sense to get the belt off Shawn without beating him, but I have no doubt some politicking was at play.

Intercontinental Championship: Razor Ramon def. Dean Douglas (c) (11:02)
Razor heads out and fights off Douglas early, before working the arm. He keeps control for a while, technically besting Douglas, until the latter says f*** it and cheap shots Razor to give himself an opening. Unfortunately for Dean, he gets caught by Razor and nailed with a fallaway slam, before getting sent out to the floor. Razor seems confident and suplexes Douglas back into the ring. The brawl outside a bit now, as Razor douses Dean in J.R.'s water. Razor takes him back inside and looks set to deliver the Razor's Edge, but Douglas backdrops out of it and sends Razor crashing to the floor. Razor heads back in and quickly catches Douglas with a chokeslam, but the Dean reacts and connects with a flying crossbody for two. Razor recovers and hits a back suplex, and both men are down. Razor has the wherewithal to drape the arm over Douglas, and the ref counts to three! You can clearly see Douglas' leg under the rope at two but the referee's decision is final and Razor is the first-ever four-time IC Champion. I actually liked this a tiny bit better than their IYH3 contest, as it got to the point quicker and felt a little more heated. It still wasn't great though and there was no way back for Douglas as a character after this humiliation. (*3/4)

It's main event time, and Bret (who will face the winner at Survivor Series) heads out to join the commentary desk. He has to chase off Lawler first, though, as I guess things aren't quite settled between them.

WWF Championship: The British Bulldog def. Diesel (c) via DQ (18:14)
Back and forth stuff to start this one, as Bulldog works an early REST HOLD (well that's an omen), only to get smashed by an elbow from Diesel. Bulldog retreats outside and grabs Diesel's leg from the floor, attempting to crotch the champ on the ring post. Diesel pulls forward though and sends Davey hurtling into the post. Back in the ring, Diesel hammers away on Bulldog, but Bulldog reacts with a dropkick and sends Diesel to the outside. This leads to a momentary fracas with Bret, who helps Diesel get his balance, only to receive a shove in the face. Bulldog takes advantage and attacks the knee of Diesel, which becomes the theme of the rest of the match. Bulldog continues to punish the knee and eventually goes for a Sharpshooter, but it looks like crap and Bret hilariously buries it on commentary while Vince scrambles to cover. That's probably the highlight of the match. Bulldog boots Diesel to the outside and Cornette goes to town, which is also pretty funny. Back in the ring, Bulldog continues to work over the knee with a half crab and oh lord, this feels like it's going on forever. Eventually Diesel powers up, but Bulldog hits him with a leg drop for two and goes back to the knee. Diesel gets a brief reprieve by booting Davey to the floor, but the challenger recovers quickly and goes for a suplex. Diesel reverses that though and both men are down. Bulldog earns a two count after getting up first and goes for the Sharpshooter again, which Bret continues to make a mockery of. And it looks really bad, so I'm not sure why he keeps doing it? Bulldog moves on to an attempt at a slam, but he can't hoist Diesel up and the big man falls on top of him for two. Bulldog then goes for the running powerslam, but that doesn't work either as Diesel escapes and nails Davey with his boot. Diesel goes after Cornette now and whips him into the ring, as Jim takes a ridiculous bump off a punch. Bulldog is sent out of the ring too but uses this moment to breathe to recoup and attack the knee of Diesel once more and send the champ into the post. It seems like we're a long way from a finish, but Bulldog then slaps Bret at ringside. Hitman loses his temper and heads inside to attack Bulldog, which brings the DQ win for the challenger. After all that, a screwy finish! Honestly, whether it's Bulldog still working out how to be a compelling heel with almost no experience of it, or just bad chemistry between him and Diesel, this was absolutely terrible and somehow interminably long at less than 20 minutes. It's probably better from a technical perspective than the Sid matches but those at least had the good grace to be short. Another bad PPV main event in a year full of them. (1/2*)

Post-match, Bulldog is declared the winner and Diesel is pissed, so a fight breaks out between Diesel and Bret to get the build going early for their match next month. Some babyface geeks (and I'm including the tag champs in that) head out to break it up and that's the show.

Overall

The only reason this isn't the worst PPV of the year is because i) it isn't King of the Ring, and ii) it's a short enough show to not totally lose your mind over some of the awful in-ring work and nonsensical booking. It's really bad though and easily the low point for the IYH series so far (which hasn't exactly been a roaring success from a quality point of view). Fortunately, the main event and general vibe of this show was so bad that I think it famously woke Vince up a bit. 2/10.
 
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RAW #132

Date: 23 October 1995
Location: Keystone Center; Brandon, MB
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

TONIGHT: A new No.1 Contender for the Intercontinental Championship emerges and the Women's Title is up for grabs!

We're live for Monday Night RAW following an absolute stinker of a PPV (and judging by how quickly the commentators brush past it, I'm guessing they realised how bad it was). This show gets well beaten by Nitro (2.6 to 2.2), as a slight tide shift begins in the Monday Night Wars.

The ring is filling up!

Owen Hart won a 20-Man Battle Royal (14:51)
The winner of this match gets a shot at Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon NEXT WEEK! I won't read out everyone involved, but you're big hitters and favourites are probably Sycho Sid, Owen Hart and 1-2-3 Kid. There's a bunch of Corporation guys in here too, along with jobber fodder like Rad Radford, Skip and Barry Horowitz. Most of this is just a messy battle royal with too many bodies in the ring to actually see what's going on. After a bunch of eliminations (and at least two commercial breaks) we get down to a final four of Owen Hart, Marty Jannetty, Savio Vega and Jean-Pierre Lafitte. I should mention that King Kong Bundy's earlier elimination is pretty much the last we see of him. They also have Barry Horowitz eliminate Skip to keep that whole programme running. Anyway, Savio decks Owen with a spinning heel kick, only to get caught in a head scissors by Marty while he skins the cat and dumped out of the ring. So Marty has left himself alone with two heels. Not for long though, as Lafitte charges in only to get tossed as well. Marty mania running wild?! After some back-and-forth attempts to dump each other out of the ring, Owen levels Marty with an enziguiri. Owen can't eliminate him but does send him out through the middle of the ropes, as the match continues. Marty then goes for a chase of Jim Cornette, only to get waffled by a sudden appearance from The British Bulldog. He throws Marty back inside and Owen finishes the job to win the title shot. I love Owen but we've literally already run him and Razor for the IC belt this year, change the record. I don't rate battle royals but this wasn't a particularly good one; it went on too long and by the time we got down to a final four the result was elementary.

Post-match, Owen gets a rare chance to speak and promises to win the gold next week. I'm sure that'll be a decent enough match.

Time for a Slam Jam with Dok Hendrix now, which is basically a Survivor Series report. Along with Bret vs. Diesel, we'll also be getting a WILDCARD match, as HBK has to team up with his old pals Sid and Bulldog, along with newcomer Ahmed Johnson, to face Razor, Dean Douglas, Owen Hart & Yokozuna! Gorilla Monsoon must have had too many bananas.

Avatar def. Brian Walsh (2:35)
A debut! Avatar is, of course, the unfortunate first gimmick in the WWF for Al Snow, who came in with a lot of momentum from ECW but, by his own admission, got off to a rough start. This Mortal Kombat gimmick basically involves him walking to the ring and then putting the mask on before the match starts. Who thought that would work? Jerry buries the whole thing pretty much immediately. They do some basic back-and-forth to start but then things go off the rails as Walsh screws up a monkey flip and then sells a kick to the head that obviously didn't connect. Botchamania would have had a field day. Then Avatar whiffs on a plancha (Al Snow claims this was due to the different type of ropes in WWF, which we'll call the Sin Cara defence) and it all looks so disjointed. Back in the ring, Walsh gets some momentum with a few clotheslines, but Avatar recovers and hits a standing moonsault, followed by a standing splash off the chest, for the pin. A pretty hilariously bad squash here and very much a case of grand opening, grand closing on Avatar's first night.

Women's Championship: Alundra Blayze def. Bertha Faye (c) (7:44 shown)
Big Bertha uses her power early to dominate Blayze and then hits a couple of leg drops for our first near fall of the match. Blayze reacts with a sunset flip for two, but Bertha clotheslines her and resumes the punishment, before reversing another sunset flip into a sit-down SPLAT. That gets two also. We head into a break with Bertha on top, but when we return, Blayze has a Boston Crab cinched in and we learn that she actually kicked out of the sit-out power bomb that beat her last time. Bertha escapes and catches Blayze in the corner, but the challenger recovers and builds up a head of steam, flying from the top with a missile dropkick for another near fall. Blayze continues the assault, but that is ultimately foiled by a backdrop as Blayze goes for the piledriver. Bertha then tries to go high. but gets into it with the ref, giving Blayze the chance to catch her with a hurricarana. Harvey then gets up on the apron and tries to interject, only for Bertha to collide with him and receive a German suplex from Blayze. That's three and another Women's Championship for Alundra. It would, of course, be the last. Well, I bet Vince regretted booking this title change (not that Madusa really moved the needle or did anything important in WCW). Acceptable match by the standards of the time and far better than the SummerSlam encounter earlier in the year (*1/2).

After a rundown of next week's show, Jim Ross catches up with Shawn for an interview and asks him it felt to forfeit the title. Shawn "subtly" buries Douglas here and then promises he'll be back in action soon, once his tests come back positive. A nice, candid bit of character formation here as Shawn prepares to get back on the horse. They would of course play on this incident next year though.

A pretty weak sauce effort for a live show and PPV follow-up, if you ask me. Survivor Series already looks a hell of a lot better (as does next week's RAW), but the company feels like its on unsteady ground at this point. We'll see if they can bounce back. Thumbs slightly down.

NEXT TIME: Goldust makes his RAW premiere and Owen Hart challenges Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship!
 
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