What the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw – July 24, 1995

Reviews, Shows, TV Shows

Vintage Raw

-I’ve decided to change the format of these reviews. Instead of doing the standard star system fare, which most people already do, I’ve decided to put a “grade” on the major matches and segments (jobber matches excluded). Since I used to be a teacher anyway it’s a more comfortable way for me to evaluate things. Due to this change, I’ve adjusted the name of this column from the Write Off to What the World Was Watching to best reflect what this column does: review old WWF/WCW shows.

-Highlights of Shawn Michaels winning the Intercontinental championship at the In Your House 2 pay-per-view are shown.

-Our hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry “the King” Lawler coming to us live from Louisville, Kentucky.

Intercontinental Champion “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels vs. “The Gigolo” Jimmy del Ray (w/Jim Cornette):

Michaels gets a great pop when he comes out which is unsurprising because he is over quite well in Kentucky. Lockup that starts us off is indecisive and a second see Ray back Michaels into the corner where he unloads. Ray doesn’t charge into the corner when Michaels tries to go over him but doesn’t capitalize and ends up being armdragged by Michaels. Michaels works the arm and Ray flips around to escape only to be clotheslined over the top rope. Michaels skins the cat back inside and baseball slides Ray. A second attempt sees Ray move and Dr. Tom Pritchard grabs Michaels on the floor. However, when Ray tries to punch Michaels he moves and Ray hits his partner. That sums up the Heavenly Bodies stint in the WWF in a matter of seconds. Michaels then gives the Heavenly Bodies a double noggin knocker. Back in, Ray catches Michaels with a DDT and a delayed cover gets two. Ray distracts the referee as Pritchard chokes Michaels on the bottom rope. Michaels gets a fluke sunset flip for two and Ray takes him right back down with a clothesline. Ray swivels his hips as he gives Michaels a neckbreaker for two. Chinlock time and that goes nowhere so Ray slams Michaels. However, he misses a top rope splash and Michaels fires away and takes Ray to the buckle. Michaels whips Ray into the corner with authority and hits him with a flying forearm off the ropes. Michaels delivers a slam and then executes a top rope elbowsmash for two. Pritchard gets up on the apron as Cornette distracts the referee but he eats Sweet Chin Music for his troubles and Michaels floats over a Ray backdrop to finish him in the same manner seconds later for the win at 5:21. Fantastic opener even if it did make the Heavenly Bodies look like bumbling idiots. Afterwards, Michaels gyrates with the Intercontinental championship and then does a striptease that almost goes too far. Didn’t care to see that but the match was great given the time constraints. Grade: B

-McMahon says that the Roadie says Jeff Jarrett was lip singing “With My Baby Tonight.” We see a replay of the clips where Jarrett was defeated by Michaels at In Your House 2. I have to hand it to Jarrett, he’s the only guy to leave the WWF on two occasions after losing the Intercontinental championship.

-Clips are shown of the Bret Hart-Hakushi feud that began four months ago.

The Smoking Gunns vs. John Faulkner & Rick Stockhauser:

Billy starts it with Faulkner and Faulkner takes Billy down with a shouderblock but Billy quickly takes him down with an armdrag. Faulkner regains the advantage and tags in Stockhauser. The jobbers hits a double elbow off the ropes but a blind charge by Stockhauser eats buckle. It’s notable here that Faulkner and Stockhauser have matching tights. Tag Bart and he hits a legdrop and then tags in Billy. The Gunns hit their crazy version of the Sidewinder where Bart hoists up the opponent over his head and Billy launches himself off the top rope for the win at 2:01. It doesn’t look as good on replays as it does when you just see it in real time.

-Call 1-800-TITAN-91 to get your “Ain’t I Great” Jeff Jarrett t-shirt. You can get it for $17. The “With My Baby Tonight” tape comes with it free. What are you waiting for? Buy it!

-Goldust vignette where Howard Finkel just does his ring introduction and gold glitter is on the screen.

-The same Fatu vignette that was on WWF Superstars is shown. He’s Fatu and he’s making a difference!

Waylon Mercy vs. Gary Scott:

Mercy shakes Scott’s hand and kicks him in the gut. Mercy hits a lariat off the ropes and chops Scott down multiple times. Mercy hits a running shoulder block and then chokes him. Mercy tosses Scott to the floor as the camera shows the “Redemption” tattoo on Mercy’s arm. Mercy holds open the ropes for Scott and when Scott takes him up on the offer he snaps them back on him and then stomps him back out of the ring. On the floor, Mercy bodyslams Scott and rolls him in for a one count before releasing the cover. Mercy then applies the sleeper for the victory at 2:00. Afterwards, Mercy field goal kicks Scott just because he can. The best Mercy squash I’ve seen yet.

-Todd Pettengill gives us the final In Your House report. He also hypes the Stridex sponsored SummerSlam pay-per-view.

-King Mabel cuts a promo against Diesel and says that being the King of the Ring is the highest honor that exists in the WWF. He says that he is the one granting Diesel a match, not the other way around, and that Diesel is not a worthy champion.

Hakushi (w/Shinja) vs. Bret “the Hitman” Hart:

Before the match and before Bret makes his entrance, Hakushi shows everyone his Bret Hart severed head. Shinja grabs Bret’s leg to start and when Bret comes onto the arena floor to pursue him, Hakushi attacks him from behind and sends him into the ring steps. Back in, Hakushi slams Bret but a pump splash off the second rope meets knees and Bret delivers an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline. Bret takes Hakushi to the buckle and fires away in the corner. Bret burns Hakushi’s eyes across the top rope and delivers a headbutt. Backbreaker and Bret delivers an elbow drop. Hakushi reverses a whip into the corner and Bret slides underneath the buckles only to have his back collide with the ring post. That gets an “oohhh” from the crowd. Hakushi then follows it up with a baseball slide into Bret’s gut as he’s prone and we cut to a commercial break.

We’re back and Hakushi hits a springboard elbow smash in the corner and chokes Bret with his foot against the bottom turnbuckle. Hakushi with a small version of the Bronco Buster before it was called that and he taunts the crowd from the second rope. Bret reverses Hakushi’s continuous chops and turns it into a desperate side Russian leg sweep. Hakushi recovers first, though, and gives Bret a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker after he escapes Bret’s attempt at a backbreaker off the ropes. Hakushi whips Bret into the corner with authority and nails a top rope flying headbutt into Bret’s lower back for two. The crowd is pretty dead for this match and that’s a shame. Hakushi applies a nerve hold but Bret elbows out of it. Bret floats over a Hakushi backdrop but when he tries to rollup Hakushi from behind, Hakushi uses his momentum to hurl Bret to the floor. Hakushi thinks of doing a top rope maneuver onto Bret on the arena floor but thinks better of it. We head to our second commercial break.

We return to see Hakushi deliver a springboard moonsault onto Bret from the ring to the arena floor. THAT wakes up the crowd and Bret somehow recovers enough to give Hakushi and Shinja a noggin knocker on the floor. Bret then dives onto both men. Back in, Bret delivers a backbreaker and the second rope elbow drop that never gets a three count gets two. Shinja tries to enter the ring and Bret clocks him. Bret nails a bulldog for two. Small package by Bret gets two. Hakushi ducks a right hand and delivers a side suplex. Hakushi tries a top rope flying headbutt but this time there’s nobody home and Bret executes a superduperplex. Sharpshooter is applied and that gets the submission at 9:23 shown. Afterward, Shinja tries to attack Bret and gets a headbutt and a piledriver for his efforts. That would be the last time Shinja was ever seen on WWF television and McMahon pronounces that he will never appear again. As a finishing touch, Jean Pierre LaFitte comes to ringside and grabs Hakushi’s bag because he’s a pirate after all. Once this got going it was great and this was arguably the best Monday Night Raw match of 1995. It’s too bad the crowd didn’t care about Hakushi. Grade: B+

-Dean Douglas vignette. He defines knowledge for us and says that he will grade the superstars of the WWF because he has the knowledge to do it accurately.

-Vince McMahon and Jerry “the King” Lawler interviews new Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. Lawler warns him that he is a marked man and Michaels taunts him as we go off the air.

-Next week tune in for Savio Vega & Razor Ramon battle Yokozuna & Owen Hart for the WWF tag team championship, King Mabel will be in action, the Bodydonnas will be here, and so will Bam Bam Bigelow!

The Final Report: A very, very good show. Sometimes the shows after pay-per-views fall flat but this one avoided that. The squash matches take up a small amount of the time and the two matches with Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart are excellent. Bret’s contest with Hakushi is one of my favorite Raw matches of the period and it’s worth checking out.

Logan Scisco has been writing wrestling reviews for Inside Pulse since 2005. He considers himself a pro wrestling traditionalist and reviews content from the 1980s-early 2000s. Most of his recaps center on wrestling television shows prior to 2001. His work is featured on his website (www.wrestlewatch.com) and he has written three books, available on Amazon.com.