Pro Wrestling Love #76: Best of WWF Monday Night RAW (January 1995-August 1995)

 Hey Yo,

I launched my product! Second of my career! In classic MartMan fashion, most of these reviews are from Q4 2024 so I am a bit foggy on the main conclusions I was drawing from these matches, but I will post a compilation of these reviews.

This post will cover the Featured Attraction Matches from WWF Monday Night RAW between January 1995 through August 1995 because in September the Monday Night Wars start and RAW's format changes. RAW from its inception to Nitro's inception usually had one Featured Attraction match, a long-form match pitting two stars, one talk show segment and then 2-3 squashes. The following table captures the WWF Monday Night RAW Featured Attraction Matches of January 1995-Augiust 1995.

Date	Match	Rating
January 2, 1995	Allied Powers vs Million Dollar Corporation	DNW
January 9, 1995	Razor Ramon vs Owen Hart	3.75
January 16, 1995	Bret Hart vs Jeff Jarrett	3
January 23, 1995	1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly vs Smoking Gunns	3.75
January 30, 1995	King Kong Bundy vs Mabel	DNW
January 30, 1995	Smoking Gunns vs 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly	3
February 6, 1995	Lex Luger & MOM vs Million Dollar Corporation	DNW
February 20, 1995	Diesel vs Jeff Jarrett	3.25
February 27, 1995	Lex Luger vs Tatanka	3
March 6, 1995	Shawn Michaels vs British Bulldog	3.5
March 13, 1995	Jerry Lawler vs Bret Hart	3
March 20, 1995	Razor Ramon vs HOG	DNW
March 20, 1995	Smoking Gunns vs Heavenly Bodies	DNW
March 27, 1995	Bret Hart vs Owen Hart	4
April 3, 1995	Hakushi vs Bob Holly	DNW
April 3, 1995	Alundra Blayze vs Bull Nakano	DNW
April 10, 1995	Adam Bomb vs Tatanka	DNW
April 10, 1995	Bret Hart, 1-2-3 Kid, Bob Holly vs Hakushi, Owen Hart & Yokozuna	3.25
April 17, 1995	Pierre vs Duke The Dumpster	DNW
April 17, 1995	Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly	3.75
April 24, 1995	Diesel vs Bam Bam Bigelow	4
May 1, 1995	Razor Ramon vs Sid	No Contest
May 8, 1995	Jeff Jarret vs Doink The Clown	DNW
May 8, 1995	Owen Hart vs Bart Gunn	DNW
May 15, 1995	Bam Bam Bigelow vs IRS	DNW
May 22, 1995	Shawn Michaels vs King Kong Bundy	DNW
May 29, 1995	Undertaker vs Jeff Jarrett	3.25
June 5, 1995	British Bulldog vs Owen Hart	3.5
June 12, 1995	Yokozuna vs Lex Luger	3
June 19, 1995	Sid & Tatanka vs Headshrinkers	DNW
June 26, 1995	Jeff Jarrett vs Savio Vega	DNW
July 3, 1995	Sid vs Bam Bam Bigelow	3
July 10, 1995	Allied Powers vs HOG & Tatanka	DNW
July 17, 1995	Shawn Michaels vs IRS	DNW
July 24, 1995	Bret Hart vs Hakushi	3.5
July 31, 1995	Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs Razor Ramon & Savio Vega	DNW
August 7, 1995	Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs Razor Ramon & Savio Vega	DNW
August 7, 1995	Diesel vs Mo	DNW
August 14, 1995	Shawn Michaels vs Jerry Lawler	3.5
August 21, 1995	Undertaker vs Tatanka	DNW
August 21, 1995	Diesel & British Bulldog vs MOM	DNW

The two stand-out matches are Bret vs Owen in a No Holds Barred match which serves as the blowoff to the feud a whole one year later, talk about getting mileage out of a program. Because the match doesnt take place on PPV, it is not talked about a lot, but it is a great match. The hidden gem of all my WWF watching is Diesel defending the WWF Title against Bam Bam Bigelow and it is a contender for the best non-Bret/non-Shawn WWF match of 1993-97. I still cant believe. I really turned a corner on Big Daddy Cool on this survey of WWF 93-95. He was working really hard and was motivated. I have never been a Bigelow guy. He just doesnt do it for me, but this is a contender for best Bam Bam match. The next tier down would be the very fun Kid/Holly team which had very strong tag title matches against Smoking Gunns and Yoko & Owen. I would also give special mention to the Intercontinental title match between Razor and Owen.

There's a couple fun Bret and Shawn matches that are overlooked because they were not on PPV that I think are worth watching to flesh out our understanding of each man's working style.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Owen Hart - WWF RAW 1/9/95

I have had this one earmarked ever since I found it existed. Two of the most beloved 90s upper Midcard Acts. I was underwhelmed by their KOTR 94 match but otherwise these two aren’t really associated with each other. So it is a pleasure to get these two together.

I really enjoyed this match and I thought they structured this flawlessly. If they got the better finish, you could say this was a hidden gem. Owen tries a sneak attack and Razor clotheslines him. It is off to the races. Razor works a really fun shine. At every pass, Owen is thwarted. We get a great back body drop, clothesline to the outside so Owen goes up top press slam. Razor works the arm and Owen does a great job making this fun doing a great comedic flop. Razor works the arm well and when Owen gets out he clocks him with a right and when Owen spits at him it is the Sack of Shit. It is my favorite style of wrestling. Heel feeds a baby face by trying some sort of shortcut and baby face thwarts him and hits badass offense. At the perfect time before this gets old, Razor goes for his finish and Owen back drops him over the top. Owen hits a beautiful suicide dive. Notice how it is almost a high speed crossbody block through middle rope. It is an easy bump for the wrestler to absorb so it looks better. Owen’s heat segment follows Razor’s shine. Since Owen is a heel, I would have liked more viciousness or cheating. This is more of a Japanese-style control segment. Owen runs through his offense: enziguiri, straddle, spinning heel kick, back breaker, sleeper. The beauty of all this is how it is set up. Razor is constantly fighting trying to throw his signature right or Irish Whip and Owen thwarts him with one of his signature move. It is not my turn, your turn. They strategically set up each high spot. Really well done. I like how Razor uses the back suplex out of the sleeper as the leveling the playing field. Razor hits those signature, stinging rights, great set up and execution of the Chokeslam, Razor really getting a chance to show off his offensive arsenal. Razor goes for his signature set up love the Super Back Suplex but Owen fights out. Owen goes for his own Back Suplex, but loses his balance and Razor gets dropped ass first hard on the top rope and takes quite the tough bump to the floor. His ass must have felt that. Owen gets the Sharpshooter and Bret as jealous as ever can’t stand to see his younger brother win the Intercontinental championship blatantly attacks Owen in front of the ref. Here comes Razor’s Rumble opponent, Double J Jeff Jarrett, this sets up the Jarrett vs Bret match.

I really liked the structure of this a lot. They really meshed their high spots well setting up each one logically and executing them really well. I would have liked to seen Owen show more of mean streak in the heat segment but he is a great stooge. Razor is a great baby face. Too bad about this finish, but this is great *** 3/4  

Bret Hart vs Jeff Jarrett - WWF RAW 1/16/95

According to Cagematch, this match and the Diesel match I just watched on the highest rated WWF Jarrett matches I have not watched and if that’s the case, it doesn’t bode well for him because these are good not great matches. That Shawn match really is an anomaly. I want to like Jarrett. I love his hair and he someone I just like because I was a kid in 1997 but I find a lot of his performances to be muted. He can remind me of HHH, mechanically sound but dry as a bone. Jarrett seems to be better suited to wrestle as a baby face but doesn’t have the personality for it. 
 

The real story of the match is Bret Hart has a five o’clock shadow! He has an upcoming match against newly minted Ace Babyface Champion Diesel so Vince & Shawn are teasing that he might be turning heel as he is more aggressive. Bret, the king of being the subtle heel, plays into well with his strike-based offense and his aggression. Bret works really well in and out of the arm bar. Generally really good Bret grinding offense. He grabs a sleeper but Jarrett gets a back duplex then dropkick then swinging neckbreaker (I find that move so lame). He didn’t even cheat to gain the advantage. He just isn’t a good heel. Bret catches him coming off the top. Bret hits a couple of his Moves of Doom. Sharpshooter but no Jarrett rakes his eyes…finally! Bret does that sick bump he takes into the ropes. Figure-4 is a good “near fall”. Bret wins with an O’Connor Roll. William Shatner is with Bret Hart who slugs Jarrett and Roadie belly flops. 
 

Bret did his job well here…he demonstrated he could be the subtle heel for Diesel but he was way more over than Diesel just comparing this match to the Jarrett/Diesel match from one month later. I thought there was a bit more fun in Diesel/Jarrett but this was solid too. *** 

WWF World Tag Team Champions 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly vs Smoking Gunns - WWF RAW 1/23/95

1-2-3 Kid the king of the makeshift tag teams. Kid/Jannetty were obviously the better team and in my dream world, they ruled WWF tag team scene for at least a couple years. Kid/Holly are the poor man's version. I havent seen Holly wrestle since his departure from WWE and he does not seem like a great lost worker. I believe this is my first time watching the Smoking Gunns as a tag team. All in all, given there was only one worker I would say I'd like in this match, this greatly exceeded expectations. Really unique match, it is double FIP, BUT since each team is babyface, they each do a FIP. Pretty cool.

I loved the beginning of the match. The work was tight, uptempo and it just felt like an 1980s babyface vs babyface tag team match. Kid & Holly were the Cinderella story of the Tag Team Title Tournament replacing Smoking Gunns who were out due to a "rodeo injury" they defeated the Million Dollar Corporation the previous night at the Royal Rumble. So they were really playing up the 24 hours since they won the title defense. It was a really well done babyface vs babyface work. Holly was the first to break the mold with right hand to Bart. Billy came in and just tackled Holly with a bulldog. It looked awesome. I thought things would get chippy, but they settled into place. Gunns hit a double press slam on Holly. Kid/Holly showed they could do double teams too with a double superplex and a double dropkick. Kid/Holly worked their heat segment on Billy. Kid/Holly, unexpectedly played more of the de facto heels in the match, Kid dropkicked Bart off the apron when Billy went for a tag and this was sold as very heelish. 

Kid sold exhaustion so well and thus the Rocker Dropper by Billy came off really organic and well-timed. Right into hot tag for Bart. Loved the backbreaker/Rockers Dropper combo AND the Billy dropkick into a vertical suplex. Both looked killer. I thought the face in peril on Kid dragged a bit, BUT still cool seeing each team do one. Holly continues that thread of Kid/Holly being heelish when he does a Hart Foundation knee to the Gunns running the ropes. Vince declares Holly has the best dropkick in the game which was a long standing soundbyte. Jim Brunzell's was better. Shawn Michaels says his is better on commentary. Holly eats the foot on a splash. Bart gets him up in an Argentine Backbreaker and Billy comes off the top into a Slop Drop/Edge combo. Bart stops Kid. 1-2-3 New Champs and first reign for the Gunns. 

Saw footage of the Sidewinder, some AEW team should bring that back. Thats sick. I thought this what a really damn good tag team match. I think you can play Kid & Holly's heelishness up as desperation. They just did all this work to win the tag team titles against all odds and now 24 hours later they have to defend them. The twin scourge of exhaustion and desperation will cause a man to cheat. I thought the Gunns were pretty damn solid here. Looking forward to more matches. *** 3/4

WWF World Tag Team Champions Smoking Gunns vs 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly - WWF RAW 1/30/95

In fairness to the Gunns who won their titles 24 hours after Kid & Holly won theirs, Gunns are putting their titles on the line about an hour after they won it! Yes, an hour! Now thats fighting champions! However, they dont get credit for it, as this aired a week later. I went to my first ever WWE TV Taping two days ago at the Boston Garden. Totally fucked it up, I assumed they would do the Dec 16th episode live 8-10am and the Dec 23rd episode 10pm-Midnight. They started it all an hour early so we came into Dec 16th episode in medias res. First time experiencing such a phenomenon, it is a lot of pro wrestling and it was about what I expected for the Holiday episode. I will say Vince & Shawn being photoshopped in front of the crowd in 1995 was really fucking good. I mean you have to be paying attention to notice it. It looks like 2020s technology. So kudos to them for making it look great. Must have been weird for the live crowd to see this title match again after only about an hour in between. 

This match pales in comparison to the first match. Kid gets a little shine showing off his speed. They get a double dropkick. Bart slams Kid's head to the mat. Double Russian Legsweep by the Gunns. Back from break, Kid hits a double clothesline on both Gunns. Holly's house of fire is so generic. It is pretty pedestrian except a strangely heated fistfight between Billy & Bob that almost looked uncooperative. Kid comes in and starts lighting everyone up with karate. He dives off the top with a Cannonball. Sells a stinger. Billy goes to pick him up, but his eyes roll back in the head and ref calls the match. Vince does a good job with the serious sell here. I am 99% sure this is a work as he was back in time for Mania to be in Razor's corner and wrestling in April. I thought he did sustain a neck injury in WWF or was it just in WCW. This was good, but the original match was much better. *** 

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel vs Jeff Jarrett - WWF RAW 2/20/95

I am really loving these interesting WWF title defenses on these early RAWs. You don’t really hear anyone talk about them except the very famous Bret/Kid match but there’s a lot of interesting matchups that I didn’t know existed. Diesel has defended the title against Owen (Action Zone) and Bret at Royal Rumble (really great match). Interesting to see Diesel early in his title reign. He seems to be over but NOT OVER if you know what I mean. I am also interested to see how Double J does as I have not seen a lot of his stuff from this era…he just won the IC title from Razor. 
 

The best part of this match is easily the shine especially the two Memphis stooge spots that really stand out in WWF. Diesel decks the Roadie and the press slams Jarrett from the ring onto the Roadie to the floor. Then Diesel wristlocks Jarrett and Roadie tries to save Jarrett from being dragged into the ring but Roadie gets pulled in and Hebner kicks their hands apart leaving Road Dogg to eat it face first. Overall Diesel is moving great and just hit a barrage of his stock spots, the straddle in the ropes (that came off really organic); it is funny because Jarrett uses the same move as a stock spot (he uses it in the heat). Nash uses the boot choke in the buckles which is a stock Nash spot. The transition to heat is a good 3-part transition. Jarrett bumps Diesel off the apron, Roadie hits a flying clothesline from the apron and Jarrett uses a ref distraction to smash Diesel into the post. Here’s where I think the match could have been improved Jarrett doesn’t go for the leg even though he said in his pre-match promo he would focus on applying the Figure-4. I think that would have garnered more heat for Diesel’s comeback. His use of a drop kick and a top rope crossbody felt too baby face. He didn’t heel it up enough. Diesel gets back onto offense with sidewalk slam, the Snake Eyes, Big Boot and Jacknife! It was a strong finishing combination for Diesel stringing together all his stock spots. Diesel gives Roadie the Jacknife Powerbomb for good measure. 
 

Shawn with his debuting new bodyguard Sid come out to stare down to his WrestleMania opponent. Enjoyable match they stuck to the formula well enough and a couple Memphis spots brought a smile to my face. *** 1/4

Lex Luger vs Tatanka - WWF RAW 2/27/95

It is the blowoff the world has been waiting for! I think more than anything, Luger should have known the writing was on the wall when this match did not get booked for WrestleMania. The fact that this had basically started right after WrestleMania X with DiBiase sitting and watching his match with Martel. There were weeks of buildup prior to Summerslam. This should have been a slam dunk WrestleMania match. The fact he got thrown into a tag team with British Bulldog he shouldve known it was over. I will say even though Vince bills this as the blowoff match it is not. It is actually a match that happens on Sunday Night Slam (had never even heard of this show until my research into Luger's WWF career). They have a steel cage match and after that, Luger is officially in the Allied Powers tag team with Bulldog. To put a little more stank on this feud, Tatanka attacked Chief Jay Strongbow so Luger has Strongbow with him. 

I thought this was Luger's best individual performance in a WWF match. The Diesel match is still the best match he has been a part of, but this is one where he looked like The Total Package Lex Fucking Luger. Besides his bizarre 2006 comeback, I dont think I have ever watched and reviewed Tatanka match so it is possible this is just how he wrestles, BUT he basically apes Ric Flair. They pretty much do the poor man's version of Luger vs Flair, but at least it finally feels like there some light in Luger's eyes. They do whole chop, No Sell, FLEX, Attack! That is just money. Ten punch in the corner, Flair...I mean...Tatanka goes for the Atomic Drop but Luger splays and decks Tatanka. Flair begs off shit I did it again, I mean Tatanka and he pulls Luger's trunks to have Luger crash to the floor. Tatanka does not even have an ounce of Flair's charisma so this drags a bit in the heat segment especially with a bearhug, but this is at least a template that Luger thrives in. Luger did a great job throughout match using the No Sell to build heat for the comeback. Luger uses the sleeper as a nod to Strongbow, which gets Tatanka yapping at Strongbow who hits Tatanka with some chops to the delight of the crowd. Tatanka keeps trying to run to the hills (Jericho would like that reference) but Luger pulls him back in. Clotheslines galore, Powerslam. he is going to rack him. Vince is going all in on Rebel Rack, terrible re-branding. Tatanka successfully runs to the hills and Lugers wins by countout, which is of course why they need a steel cage match on Sunday Night Slam, which originally I was not going to watch, but I did find and since it is Luger's penultimate program I feel I owe it to him to finish this out proper. We saw glimmers of the Luger of old in this one. *** 

Shawn Michaels vs British Bulldog - WWF RAW 3/6/95

These have great chemistry together and their stock spots (short arm scissors and the press slam onto the top rope etc…) always hit. I am torn on this match. When Shawn is bumping & feeding, this match is a hoot BUT this is a great point in favor of the anti-Shawn contingent because when it is time for him to take control there’s a whole lotta nothing. 
 

They give them a shit ton of time this takes up half an episode of RAW and what we did about 17-18 minutes. Shawn is with Sid at this point and Shawn is headed into Mania against Diesel. Davey Boy was the runner-up in Rumble that Shawn won but Vince is crying foul for no reason. It sounds like Shawn won fair and square. I like the booking here as it is gives Shawn a definitive win over his fellow finalist and a quality win over an upper midcard act.

Bulldog throws Shawn around pillar to post. He is atomic dropping Shawn, blasting him with clotheslines, Shawn takes the Harley bump, they play King of the Mountain. It is a shit ton of fun. Bulldog works a great headlock against Michaels bringing us down in a good way after the red hot start. He is consolidating control. Then we get their famous Short Arm Scissors spot which is always a crowd pleaser. Bulldog looked king - size there. Upside Down Surfboard. Delayed Vertical. They pulled out all the stops. Michael’s gets caught by Sid and hits a slingshot splash. I think besides the Short Arm Scissors that was his only offense. Shawn tanks Bulldog out by the tights and Davey Boy takes a nasty spill. Then it all evaporates. Shawn really doesn’t do much with his heat segment. Some punches, a reverse elbow and an elbow drop, two chin locks and a sleeper. It was pretty damn lame. This was perfect fodder for the Shawn has no offense crowd.

Davey Boy powers out of the sleeper; they knock heads coming out of the second ad break. That’s the leveling playing field spot. Bulldog grabs a sleeper but that seemed like a time filler. Finally, we get to the finish which is gangbusters. Bulldog hits a series of clotheslines. Their favorite Press Slam, Shawn nuts first on top rope, shakes the Top Rope! Flair Flip! Which felt so killer! Cornette says shades of Ray Steven’s and follows it up with I have never seen anything like that. Way to contradict yourself. Bulldog is rolling, headbutt gets two. Shawn ducks a charging Bulldog who careens to the outside. Sid blasts him In The back with a knee. Shawn gets two and a Sweet Chin Music gets three. They should have had him nail Sweet Chin Music after the knee just to make the finish more efficient but I agree they needed to make Sweet Chin Music feel like it could take down Diesel. I would have loved to have seen a Running Powerslam attempt after the Flair Flip to really kick this up a notch. 

It was the best of Shawn, it was the worst of Shawn. The shine & comeback/shine are undeniable so I am giving this a thumbs up but acknowledging that this is one of Shawn’s worst heat segments. ***1/2 

Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler - WWF RAW 3/13/95

Apparently, Bret Hart is a racist! Man, you could not run this angle today at all. Everyone would be freaking the fuck out. Pretty simple, asshole heel makes up a lie to disgrace the babyface, but it is so baseless no believes it. Lawler says he is racist towards the Japanese people. He has Bull Nakano out with him to prove he has the support of the Japanese people. What this really is a backdrop for Bret Hart/Hakushi feud to start, which would Bret's post-Mania program. Bret had a lot of loose ends to tie off. He has the No Holds Barred Match against Owen in two weeks, the Bob Backlund I Quit Match at WrestleMania and now he has the rebooted Lawler program from 1993 and Hakushi. They may have taken the title off, but he is getting the Dusty treatment with all the feuds he is in. 

Lawler tries to jumpstart the match, but Bret is having none of it. He comes roaring back and he kicks the King's ass from pillar to post. Bret has some great punches and strikes. Slams Lawler into some hard metal objects. Tree of woe. It is a pretty good asskicking. I would liked some more variety from Bret or even more over the top stooging from Lawler, BUT it was still very good, just not all-time, you gotta see this levels. Bob Backlund is in the crowd. Hakushi is outside. Bret gets distracted and Lawler takes over. Lawler's heat segment is short, but sweet. Bret catches him coming off the top rope. Great Bulldog by Bret. He slugs Lawler over the top rope. 

Outside Bull Nakano fucks with him. Bret gives her the death stare. Lawler tries to hold Bret for Nakano, but she hits Lawler. Nakano holds Bret's foot as he is trying to get back into the ring. Lawler wins by countout. Bret stalks Nakano. Racist and a woman-beater. Jeez Bret, this is not a good look brutha. Bull Nakano hides behind Hakushi and Shinja. Lawler attacks Bret from behind to continue the feud. It was more of an angle than a match, but I enjoyed this. It was a good asskicking with a fuck finish that leads to a new, interesting program. Thumbs up from me. ***

Bret Hart vs Owen Hart - RAW 3/27/95 No Holds Barred Match

 What a hidden gem! I didn't even know this existed until yesterday. For some reason, it never smacked me as weird that there was no blowoff to Bret/Owen. I figured since Bret won the Summerslam Cage match that was it and that Owen was just to be a constant thorn in his side. Turns out this is the blowoff the feud. As Owen would link up with Yokozuna for a tag title run and Bret was destined for midcard hell until November. This is on a weird RAW. The majority of RAW is Vince and Todd running down Mania XI card in a studio. This match is the only match on the RAW and it is called by JR and Gorilla Monsoon.

 

I really dug this match. This about the greatest street fight you can have without blood and weapons. It was all punches, violence and hatred. Owen jumps Bret as he is going through the ropes. Bret earns his shine and fights back. He tees off on Owen. Pulling hair, raking the face across the ropes, railing. All nasty stuff. DDT. A big blow to the head. This is NOT Mania X where it is two brothers seeing who the best is. This is a fight. Bret takes him up for a backbreaker and Owen rakes the eyes. Owen is all over the eyes, back rakes. Nice enziguiri gets Owen a two count. Owen slams Bret into the railings. He puts his foot on Bret's chest and calls himself the real King of Harts. This is great Brother vs Brother action. Owen puts Bret in the Tree of Woe and while the ref is tending to Bret. Owen takes off the turnbuckle pad. 

Owen wants to send Bret headfirst into the exposed turnbuckle, but Bret blocks and sends him in. Bret gets a clothesline. Bret just hitting all his moves with great ferocity. That backbreaker looked awesome. Sharpshooter time, but Owen pokes him in the eye! I love it. He whips Bret hard into the exposed turnbuckles, which Bret takes in classic Bret fashion front first. Wow! Bret's sell was amazing. I audibly gasped. Owen misses a missile dropkick and Bret catapults him into the exposed turnbuckle and then Sharpshooter and he wins. 

There was a ceiling on this match because blood and a bit more violence would have taken this next level, but this also felt rushed. I think it was only 8 minutes. Bret takes that nasty, nasty front first bump into the exposed turnbuckle and he wins like a minute later. If they had 5 more minutes to flesh things out this could have been a real classic. Still a really great match that people should watch! ****

Bret Hart, 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly vs Hakushi, Owen Hart & Yokozuna - WWF RAW 4/10/95

Pretty typical booking throw Bret/Hakushi who are beefing via the Bret/Lawler feud and glom them onto the burgeoning mini-program between the current Tag Champs Owen Hart & Yokozuna (also perennial Bret rivals) and the former tag champs The Kid & Holly.

This was a fun, breezy 6-man nothing too special but a good time. Shine is almost non-existent pretty standard Bret/Yoko opening. Yoko catches the cross body-> body slam but missed the elbow. Some arm work but Yoko thrusts Holly but tags in Hakushi. Hakushi loses control to Holly who hits stock drop kick. Kid hits his spinning heel kick on Owen but a well-timed knee by Hakushi allows Owen to hit the spin wheel kick. They tag in Yoko to do a nerve pinch and play up the size disparity. Hakushi works his offense in, Owen gets a good back breaker. The best part is Kid gets a reverse crossbody for two; Owen traps the leg to prevent the tag; tags in Yoko; BIG LEG DROP ON THE KID! Significant We Want Bret chants. Kid hits a damn good Powerbomb on Hakushi. Bret does a great house afire on Yoko basically working his standard comeback they he does against Yoko; it comes off well. Bret vs Owen; Owen gets the Enziguiri. On a criss cross Bret tags Holly and dropkicks Owen into a Holly roll up for the win. Nothing too special but write home to your mother up but good fun old school wrestling. *** 1/4 

WWF World Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly - WWF RAW 4/17/95

Set up last week by Holly pinning Owen in a 6-man tag. Good first title defense for Owen & Yoko against the plucky, underdog tag team champions.

Really enjoyed the opening matwork by Owen & Kid. I would say the best opening matwork I gave seen in any WWF 93-95 match. It felt like NWA Championship wrestling. I thought Kid landing on his feet after monkey flip at the end of the really well done chain wrestling was a really good punctuation mark. Also liked Kid drop kicking Owen after double Kip ups but Owen was caught celebrating. Owen/Holly also had some really good old school exchanges. Don’t know what got into Owen but he really wanted to do classic championship style wrestling and I loved it. Kneelift brings in the big man, Yokozuna.

Surprisingly Holly snaps the gargantuan Yokozuna down by the hair on an earlier set by the big man. Owen pulls down the top rope and Holly goes careening to floor. Owen drives Holly’s back hard into the post. This sets up a very compelling heat segment on Holly. I am usually not into long heat segments especially ones that include multiple nerve pinches but Holly peppered in enough hope spots and Owen’s character work kept this fresh. Like when Holly gets a backslide out of the surfboard Owen slams him into Yoko’s head and brings Yoko in. When Holly looks poised to mount a comeback Yoko throws him over the top, picks a fight with Kid to distract the ref and Owen does more damage. When Holly gets a small package on Owen, Owen goes to the eyes. There is a great weight reversal by Hollybon a super plex. Love the enziguiri by Owen. Owen and Holly knock heads on a collision. Each tag out. THE BEST POSSIBLE 1-2-3 KID HOT TAG ON YOKO! Kid just fucking let all hang it for a minute. The best lightning head rocking kicks on both Yoko and Owen. SICK TORNEO ON OWEN!!! Mind-Blowing in 1995. Just like when your toddler gets zoomies right before a nap. Yoko catches Kid off too and SQUASHES him with a belly 2 belly. 1-2-3! Perfect finish.

I still like Kid & Jannetty more than Kid & Holly but two of the best non-Bret,  non-Shawn matches of 1995 don’t lie, they should have kept them together. I have this at the same level as the excellent Gunns match. Gun to my head, I am going Gunns, but this is really good. One interesting finding for me in all this is I significantly prefer Kid in tags than singles. *** 3/4 

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel vs Bam Bam Bigelow - WWF RAW 4/24/95

I cant believe the hidden gem of all my WWF 1993-95 watching is between these two fuckers. I have slowly warming up to the idea of Diesel being a good worker and this match probably represents the peak of his power. Everything drips with effort, he is hitting hard, closing gaps, and working tight. Easily the best non-Bret, non-Shawn match of his career I’ve seen so far. I am not a Bam Bam Bigelow at all but he is pretty decent in this. There only one chinlock that makes air from him and for the most part he works this as a heavyweight slugfest.

Diesel sets the tone early that he has his working boots on when he counters a reverse waist lock by Bam Bam with a Double Wristlock Drop Toehold like he’s a 7 foot Volk Han,  muthafuckas. After that, Diesel BULLIES Bam Bam! He throws him around! Watch those Stinger Splashes. Watch the back elbows. The hiptoss. The body slam. The way shoves his foot in Bam Bam’s face. Nash is working this like it is a fucking fight. Friggin’ Bam Bam busts out an ankle pick. It is a scrappy fucking match. Bam Bam yanks him to the outside and slams Diesels back into apron and post. Back from commercial, they do the double headknocker spot to level the playing field. Diesel gets a glorious single leg pick up! Amazing bump by Bigelow! NASH SPLASH! Who is this man? The setup and execution of the Straddle is awesome! Diesel gives a fist pump! The Omaha crowd roars! I don’t think Nash was ever this over before or after. The crowd was loudly chanting Diesel. This was probably his best 3 move sequence ever!

They trade vertical suplexes but in a sick heavyweight clash of the titans way. Bigelow wraps on chinlock as Tatanka wanders to ringside and Diesel back suplexes out for our second leveling the playing field spot. Bigelow pummels Diesel as Tatanka snaps Nash's head on the middle rope. Diesel gets the big boot in the corner. The Million Dollar Man is up for the distraction, but Tatanka trips Bigelow! Diesel hits one of the SICKEST BIG BOOTS EVER! He went through Bam Bam and I loved Bam Bam's sell. It was not a snap back, but an out on your feet sell. MUTHA OF ALL JACKNIFES! Bam Bam is such a load that it came off as an out of control POWERBOMB FROM HELL! I loved it! 1-2-3! HELL FUCKING YEAH BABY!

Now here comes the booking. They started RAW off with a great video package about all the losing Bam Bam Bigelow has done lately first the upset loss to 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly for the Tag Team Titles at Royal Rumble and then losing in the main event of WrestleMania XI to a football play, LT. DiBiase recruited Sycho Sid last week on Action Zone (interesting it was on Action Zone instead of RAW) to be the crown jewel of the Million Dollar Corporation fresh off Sid's turn on Shawn Michaels. Sid also has a World Title match against Diesel at In Your House. DiBiase berates Bam Bam and fires him and slaps him. Bam Bam beats back Tatanka and rebukes DiBiase with a I Quit and he is going to beat him but here comes IRS and then Sid gets the scraps. He beats up Bigelow and POWERBOMBS him! This was more of a Tenryu style powerbomb, but man Bam Bam is such a load that both Nash and Sid look like Hercules getting him up. Diesel clears the ring after the crowd chants his name. I thought this was a really good build to Diesel/Sid at IYH. Watching this and some of the later stuff it looks like in June, Nash runs out of Diesel power because I thought the original IYH match with Sid was pretty good and heated. By IYH2, he was cooked and there was no heat left. Was the elbow injury in May/June 1995 a shoot and is that what derailed him? I thought this was a killer angle for Sid! I am not a huge Bam Bam Bigelow fan, so I agree not the best way to turn him babyface, but not really sure he had the legs anyways also the last thing they needed was another babyface with Diesel, Bret, Taker, Shawn and Razor. The heels were Sid...Hakushi/Lawler, Kama/IRS/Tatanka, and Double J. That is a pretty desperate heel roster in 1995.

Anyways, I LOVED this match and it way over delivers. I have been seeking to find that hidden gem and I finally found it! Watch this match! **** 

WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett vs Undertaker - WWF RAW 5/29/95 KOTR Qualifying Non-Title

A rare, marquee, competitive Undertaker on RAW against an opponent who is not someone you think of as a Taker opponent, the current IC Champion Jeff Jarrett. I have said it before I think Jarrett was the first of many over-pushes, start-stop pushes of Vince. From Tito through Razor, the IC title was either for someone on the come-up or a really over upper mid card act. I guess Bulldog and Marty were kinda flukey champs but they were transitional. Jarrett was the champion for the entire first half of 95. I like Jarrett and he was saddled with a terrible gimmick and even worse slate of challengers but he definitely was not ready.

As for Taker, he was in Million Dollar Corporation Hell. Kama has stolen the Urn and melted it down into a chain which is kinda cool honestly. It wasn’t pushed too hard on commentary but the only way to kinda explain this match is Taker’s powers have been diminished because the Urn has been taken because Jarrett gets way more offense than I expected.

I have really grown to appreciate Taker’s approach to these matches where he is a monster baby face against a smaller, cheating heel but that was NOT on display here. They played the match pretty straight and Taker was bumping & selling for drop kicks like he was Bob Holly which takes away from the mystique and the uniqueness of the match. It was a good match but it was not true to the Undertaker character. It is a shame. 

Jarrett tries to play cat & mouse but after a couple punches he tries an Irish whip bad idea. Taker takes a handful of Jarrett glorious golden locks and snaps him down. Taker looking strong early with usual Taker goodness. Roadie gets involved and Jarrett surprisingly clotheslines Taker over the top but that it is just to set up the cool spot of Taker landing on his feet and gozzling Roadie. Jarrett attacks from behind and slams Taker’s head into the steps. I wanted one more big kill shot before we go into Jarrett hitting drop kicks that fell the Almighty Undertaker. Jarrett’s heat segment is very alright at least he doesn’t chin lock. He actually works the leg and uses the Figure-4. Roadie gets thrown out; Bearer takes off his jacket and is ready to fight him…a little Percy Pringle coming out there. Jarrett gets a Lawler fist drop as the big climax. Then it is Zombie Sit-up! Big pop! Taker just nails that spot so well. The two Chokeslams and the Tombstone. Taker really nails his gimmick. He is so good at this. 
 

Like I said it is a mechanically good match and I really enjoyed Taker’s finish run but they played it so boring. There was no interesting wrinkles. It just wasn’t true to Taker’s character. *** 1/4 

Owen Hart vs Davey Boy Smith - WWF RAW 06/05/95 KOTR Qualifying Match 

Love their 1997 RAW match, never seen this before. Just a great pro wrestling match. Love the ups and downs of the shine. They move in and out of armbar so well. Davey Boy uses that as a base, but they have a lot of motion like monkey flips, press slam and hitting the post. Owen bumps so well so add excitement to the match. Builds perfectly to the Bulldog's delayed vertical. Great climax to the shine. Before you know Owen moves to his heat with a keelift, great sense of timing. Go to ad break and come to find there is a 15 minute time limit so that telegraphs the finish. Owen's spinwheel kick and then raising his arms with a Woooo is how I remember Owen. Bulldog makes his comeback outta chinlock. Nice catapult, Fisherman suplex, upside down surdboard, cool set up into Bulldogs powerslam. Owen get his foot on ropes. Great series of nearfalls adds to the drama as Gorilla counts down the time limit. Real time time calls to audience would have helped. Nice, tight wrestling match that built well to time limit draw, both wrestlers came out looking good. ***1/2

Lex Luger vs Yokozuna - WWF RAW 6/12/95

It is fitting that Luger’s last televised, competitive singles match in WWF is a loss against Yokozuna. Ironically, it is also their best match together. There are couple circumstantial elements that help them: it is shorter and the ad break cut out what looked like a Yoko nerve pinch. On top of that Luger looked more motivated in the loss here than he did in his other main event matches. He has more spring in his step and just looks more confident.

Pretty standard but effective cat and mouse stuff. Yokozuna looks to squash Luger; Luger moves; Yokozuna crashes down. Luger worked in and out of the armbar well. Nice Yoko bump to the floor. I thought the transition to heat could have been more impactful. I thought the comeback was great. Yoko really milked the weeble wobble before Luger hit the flying clothesline to knock him down. Luger called for the Bionic Forearm but Fuji messes with Luger’s flag bearer. Luger gets coaxed into the outside to save Old Glory but get steamrolled by Yoko and LEGDROP~! means Luger loses by countout. 
 

I should have said in the beginning that they showed clips of the Bodyslam Challenge on the Intrepid from 2 years ago and Summerslam 93. Just seems so long ago that Luger could’ve been the guy. I still felt Luger was being promoted hard on commentary. The Allied Powers vs Yoko/Owen is most star-studded tag feud since Money Inc/Steiners. They were about #5 on the depth chart but Luger was still getting time. WCW was just a much, much better fit for him. Intrigued to watch IYH 2 tag title match. ***

Sid vs Bam Bam Bigelow - WWF RAW 7/3/95

It would be all downhill for Bam Bam from here. What should be a marquee matchup in his feud against the Million Dollar Corporation is just a random RAW match and never gets a rematch. First Henry O. Godwin blocks his path on the way to the ring to set up their PPV match. Shoving match that Bam Bam gets the best of. Bam Bam has a bunch of crazy pyro that comes out his gloves and attire. Flame tattoos on your head this is what you’ll get. He is pretty over. I am not the biggest Bam Bam fan but they could’ve gotten more of him.

A surprisingly fun match. I love little things like Bam Bam teases to hit Sid in the corner but doesn’t because he is the baby face. Whereas Sid socks him in the corner right away. Bam Bam should’ve paid him back later. Some good Clash of Titans stuff with Bam Bam bowling Sid over with a shoulder tackle. DiBiase distracts him on the outside. Sid gets a good running boot and his kicks look pretty good for Sid. Thankfully commercial break means we miss the Camel Clutch. Sick Electric Chair Drop by Bam Bam. It is kickass big man high spots.Sid choke slams Bam Bam but he backs drops out of the powerbomb. Headbutt. Goes for the top rope headbutt but HOG pushes him off and Sid wins. It is that damn Arkansas Gang at it again. Sid powerbombs Bam Bam who is a load 

Bam Bam at least beats HOG at the PPV. Something happens because HOG absconds his partner in his battle against the MDC but is shunted down the card. Sid loses to Diesel at PPV and ends up fighting HOG in September. The last hurrah of Bam Bam in WWF, a surprisingly good match. *** 

Bret Hart vs Hakushi - RAW 7/24/95

FLYING SPACE TIGER DROP! So that's why this match is famous. 

I thought this was an improvement on their IYH match. I had never seen this match before. I liked Shinja distracted Bret before the bell to give Hakushi the advantage, but Hakushi squanders that when he eats knees on his Vaderbomb. Bret is so good working on top and grinding his opponent. Hakushi Irish Whips and Bret falls and slides hard into the post back first. Great spot! Similar Hakushi heat segment. I love Bret feeds himself hope spots and Hakushi cutoffs. The ending of the match is red hot. FLYING SPACE TIGER DROP! You don't see those even today. Bret does the double noggin knocker. Bret hits an Asai Vaderbomb! I marked out for that. Hakushi gets one more hope spot before Bret polishes him off definitively with the superplex/Sharpshooter combo. Really dug this TV match. ***1/2

WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs Jerry Lawler - WWF RAW 8/14/95

The main event of the penultimate RAW before the Monday Night Wars begin. Shawn Michaels the Main Eventer is fully crafted before our eyes. The Jeff Jarrett IYH 2 match is the birthplace in my opinion (perhaps it is on a RAW against King Kong Bundy or IRS when Michaels return from the Sid attack/betrayal, but I have no desire to watch those matches). The Kip Up is here, Top Rope Elbow Drop and it is called Sweet Chin Music and all the fanfare around is there. If you compare this to the Bulldog match in March of 1995 (5 months earlier), Michaels is still a heel and he has Sid as his bodyguard. He feels like an Upper Midcarder on the cusp on breaking out. I have never thought about it this way, but his breakout match is that Jarrett match. It is funny to see his next big match is against fellow Memphis legend, Jerry Lawler. You can see that Shawn Michaels would have fit like a glove in Memphis. He is just so campy and he can do the dog and pony shit so well. He has always been able to see the Rougeaus match from Paris and London. He cut his teeth against Buddy Rose for goodness sake. Shawn brings that camp and playfulness that WWF sorely needs. That being said, I say this as a Shawn defender for the most part, he was pretty damn uncool in his promos. The bad Dad jokes are so weird when youre supposed to be this ultra-cool playboy rockstar. He looks bitchin' as fuck, but he sounds corny as fuck. 

Last week, Diesel wrestled Sir Mo, (Mabel's tag team partner) and in the process Mabel beat up Shawn Michaels. Even though this was brought multiple times, Shawn basically said he was not going to sell the attack during his promo and followed through on that. This RAW also had the infamous Lawler/Yankem vignette (which made me cringe and it was as bad as I expected) so Lawler is still full steam ahead on trying to get vengeance on the Hitman. Lawler is a great character to have on teh roster. He get heat but you can beat him like a drum and keep getting heat. He is a great mouthpiece for all random heels. 

Really fun shine as expected, Shawn baseball slides through the legs and trips the King. Single leg pick up. I LOVE trips! I love when babyfaces use trips to show up a heel. Lawler says here is a "Whopper" in response to the "Burger King" chants and BIG SWING AND A MISS! Shawn clobbers Lawler. Piledriver! Nah! Nah! Shawn splays! Big Punch. Excellent Memphis bullshit. Thankfully for Lawler, Sid comes out distracts Shawn and Lawler clocks Shawn and sends him careening to the floor on a hard Irish Whip. Back from commercial, this is the best Lawler heat segment I have seen in WWF. He kicks some ass, gets his fist drop and DDT. He actually looks competent, which is not always the case in the Bret matches. He misses a splash from the top. KIP UP~! Look how Lawler sells the KIP UP~! This is a missing ingredient for Shawn that pre-Summer 1995 that he was missing. Shawn hits the top rope elbow. It was a middle rope elbow against Bulldog. Again, a big change that helps legitimize Shawn. I need to either read my review or watch the Jarrett match because I wonder if all this here. SWEET CHIN MUSIC! It is called as such and he gets sold as such! Sid attacks here. Razor saves. Razor shoves Shawn to get more of Sid. Diesel tries to calm down his fellow Kliq boys. 

Interesting booking at the end, Shawn/Sid is a natural big time match because of the Sid turn and now that Diesel is finished with Sid it makes sense for Sid to come down the ladder and wrestle Michaels. It is interesting that rather than have that at Summerslam they wanted that to be big first RAW Main Event against Nitro. They always say that Shawn/Razor II they wanted the "better" match for Summerslam, BUT I wondered if they wanted the "BIGGER" match for the first RAW. Just food for thought. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Perfect TV wrestling. #2 babyface just having a fun, popcorn match against the sleazy, scuzzy heel. Whats not to love! *** 1/2