-Vince McMahon narrates clips of Shawn Michaels “concussion†on last week’s show.
-We’re back in Richmond, Virginia and McMahon & Jerry “the King†Lawler are in the booth.
-Opening Contest: Rad Radford vs. Ahmed Johnson:
Radford attacks Johnson from behind to start, but Ahmed doesn’t sell any of that and sends Radford to the floor with a big right hand. After stalling, Radford hot shots Ahmed from the apron and slams his head into the apron. Back in, Radford pounds away in the corner but Ahmed quickly comes back with a short-arm clothesline and a scissor kick. Ahmed hits a devastating spinebuster and hits a Pearl River Plunge when Radford ducks his head too early to get the win at 2:48. Glorified squash, but like Goldberg who came after him, it was fun to watch. Grade: D-
-Lawler interviews Ahmed and relays to him some insults Dean Douglas has directed his way. Ahmed starts raising his voice and Douglas comes out. Douglas says the road to superstardom in the WWF starts with him and Ahmed says that’s fine and that he’ll wrestle Douglas right now. Douglas teases getting into the ring until referees run out and ruin the fun.
-McMahon gives us an update on Shawn Michaels condition. He says Michaels was suffering from post-concussion syndrome after he returned from the beat down he received from nine “thugs†in Syracuse a month ago. McMahon says Michaels intends to return to action as soon as he can.
-Call 1-900-TITAN-91 to get your Bret Hart t-shirt for $20 (plus the customary $3.95 for shipping and handling).
-Aja Kong & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Alundra Blayze & Shonoki Anoia:
Four way action starts and Blayze and Anoia double dropkick Kong to win the exchange. Anoia becomes the legal female but Kong destroys her. Watanabe stretches Anoia but misses a reverse body press off the second rope and Anoia traps her in a surfboard. However, that’s not smart because it puts her in a pinning combination and the referee counts to two. Tag Blayze and she busts out a Flair flip and a top rope arm drag. Anoia and Kong have another go and Kong dominates like before, htting a suplex for two as we head to a commercial break.
When we return, Anoia clotheslines Watanbe and Kong. Anoia slams Watanabe and “hits†a reverse top rope elbow smash in the loosest form of the term. Watanabe comes back with a reverse bodypress off the second rope for two but when she goes to the top rope, Anoia runs across the ring and gives her an arm drag off the top rope for two before Kong interrupts. Blayze and Kong get tagged in and Blayze hits an enziguri and two missile dropkicks off the second rope. However, when she tries a third Kong moves out of the way. Kong proceeds to miss a splash off the ropes and Anoia gets tagged in. She tries a piledriver but Kong resists that and hits a side suplex. Spinning fist by Kong finishes at 6:05 shown. This match was the continuation of a program between Kong, who was meant to be the Vader of the women’s division, and Blayze for the women’s championship. Unfortunately, that program never finished because Blayze would dump the women’s title in the trash shortly after this on Nitro and the women’s title disappeared until November 1998. This match was pretty awesome for a women’s match in the states and they gave it a lot of TV time relative to other things on the card. Grade: B-
-Recap of Diesel’s promo last week.
-Brother Love makes his return to the WWF and interviews WWF Champion Bret Hart. The piping in of the crowd noise is pretty noticeable. Love tells Hart that he’s a marked man because he’s the champ. Really? Tell me something I don’t know. When Bret tries to respond to Love’s statements, Love won’t let him get in a word edgewise. Finally, Bret has enough and grabs Love’s hand so he can speak into the microphone. Bret says Diesel has always been cheap and what he did after the Survivor Series was cheap. He says his loss to the British Bulldog at SummerSlam 1992 has been in his mind for a long time and at In Your House he’ll get his revenge. Not a very good segment…..UNTIL Bob Backlund, who’s been doing some campaigning for his presidential bid, hops into the ring and traps Hart in a crossface chicken wing. Leave it to crazy Bob to make the save.
-Hunter Hearst-Helmsley vs. John Russell:
Godwinn appears in the split screen and hypes the hog pen match at In Your House. Helmsley methodically works over Russell but lets up after a knee lift and Russell fires away. However, he makes the fatal mistake of putting his head down too early and a Pedigree finishes at 2:01. Helmsley was so green at this point that it wasn’t even funny.
-McMahon announces that Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty will face Sid & the 1-2-3 Kid at In Your House 5.
-Jim Cornette and Owen Hart say they are issuing an open contract for In Your House 5 so if anyone wants to test their luck against Owen they are free to do so.
-Battle for the Urn on a Chain: “The Supreme Fighting Machine†Kama (w/Ted DiBiase) vs. The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer):
I swear 1995 was the year that feuds just wouldn’t die. Kama pulls a Shawn Michaels by coming to the ring on crutches and DiBiase says that he cannot compete. Therefore, DiBiase says that he has paid for a replacement……Sir Mo. Really?!?! That’s an adequate replacement? DiBiase’s portfolio must’ve taken a hit in late 1995. These bait and switch things were really hurting the WWF because they did the same thing a few weeks ago on this show when the Razor Ramon-Sid match suddenly made a non-title affair. The Undertaker was wearing a mask at this point because a legit orbital bone injury suffered at the hands of Mabel. The Undertaker slowly dominates Mo to begin the match. DiBiase grabs the Undertaker’s leg when he runs the ropes and that allows Mo to clothesline the Undertaker to the floor. However, the Undertaker lands right by DiBiase and chokes him until Kama comes over and ambushes the Undertaker, showing that his injury was faked. If you didn’t see that coming raise your hand. As the referee is distracted, DiBiase and Kama double team the dead man and Mo beats on him some more as we head to commercial.
When we come back Mo fires away and takes the Undertaker to the buckle, but the Undertaker doesn’t sell it. Mo begs off to no avail. The Undertaker hits a flying clothesline, rolls to the floor, and slams Kama’s head into the ring steps. Kama and DiBiase get tired to witnessing this abortion of a match and flee to the locker room as the Undertaker chokeslams Mo and pins him at 3:00. So THIS was the centerpiece of this show? Grade: F
-After the match, Mabel comes to ringside and the Undertaker grabs the urn on the chain. Yokozuna comes out and teases a matchup with the Undertaker, which wouldn’t be smart because the Undertaker is wrapping the gold chain urn around his fist, but it’s all just a setup as Mabel attacks Paul Bearer from behind and grabs the urn on the chain to continue this dumb storyline. I never understood why the Undertaker even needed the urn, he still won matches without it but that’s the definition of booking yourself into a corner because the Undertaker was seen as invincible so you can’t put him on a prolonged losing streak.
-Tune in next week to see Dean Douglas challenge Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship and Marty Jannetty take on Sid.
-The Final Report: A really, REALLY bad show this week and possibly the worst Raw of the year. The women’s tag was entertaining and the Backlund sneak attack was a nice touch but they couldn’t carry the show. The “Undertaker attempts to get the urn back†angle was worn out by this point so transitioning it to Mabel made the WWF audience utter a collective moan.
Show Grade: D-
