-A video package for tonight’s Intercontinental title match between Douglas & Ramon is shown. I’ve always liked the musical track that they use for it but I’m not sure what it’s called. A brief video package is also used to hype Sid’s match with Marty Jannetty later in the show.
-We’re still in Richmond, Virginia and our hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry “the King†Lawler
-Opening Contest: Bob “Spark Plugg†Holly vs. The British Bulldog (w/Jim Cornette):
Holly uses his agility to counter the Bulldog’s power and a slam and a series of clotheslines forces the Bulldog to bail. Back in, Holly hits a powerslam for two. Holly works the arm but the Bulldog lifts him up in a military press and crotches him on the ropes. No disqualification there? That looked intentional to me. Bulldog takes Holly to the buckle and goes for his sweet vertical suplex but Holly gets a fluke small package for two. The Bulldog successfully hits the vertical suplex and applies a chinlock but Holly quickly fights out of that. Holly gets a fluke sunset flip for two and delivers a dropkick for a quick double KO spot. Holly makes the comeback and grazes the Bulldog with a dropkick for two. Some second rope punches for two (?!?!). The Bulldog reverses a whip into the corner and when Holly attempts to float over him on a blind charge, the Bulldog catches him and hits the running powerslam for the pin at 5:04. This is the definition of a solid, competitive TV match. Grade: B-
-Clips of Bob Backlund putting Jim Ross in the crossface chicken wing on Superstars are shown. Lawler catches up with Backlund in the audience and Backlund starts to spaz out when Lawler tells him that his match with Bret Hart next week won’t be for the title. He cuts a great promo where he says that he wants to be God again to reign over the plebeians. Gotta love crazy Bob.
-“Making a Difference†Fatu vs. The Brooklyn Brawler:
Clips are shown of Backlund getting mad that his microphone was cut off during the break so he went after the sound man. The Brawler gets the upper hand to start but Fatu comes back with a backbreaker after recovering from an absolutely devastating eye rake and hits a Diamond Cutter. I’m not sure why Fatu never used that move as a finisher. Fatu goes to the top rope and a splash finishes at 1:21.
-Bob Backlund is shown putting the sound man, who looks like he’s part of New Kids on the Block, in a crossface chicken wing.
-“Handsome†Doc Hendrix announces that Diesel has closed Owen Hart’s open contract and will face him at In Your House 5.
-Intercontinental Championship Match: “The Bad Guy†Razor Ramon (Champion) vs. Dean Douglas:
Douglas opens the bout with a slap and Ramon throws his toothpick at Douglas in response. When Ramon goes to give the ring attendant his entrance accessories, Douglas attacks him from behind, takes the Intercontinental belt off of Ramon, and tries to use it until the referee jerks it away since this isn’t Philadelphia. Douglas tries a body press off the ropes but gets caught with a fall away slam and Ramon clotheslines him to the floor. Back in, Ramon delivers a hiptoss after avoiding a Douglas clothesline and locks in an armbar. Ramon catches a foot to the face on a blind charge and Douglas awkwardly drives Ramon’s face into the canvas from the second rope. Douglas sells back problems as he delivers a slam and we go to commercial.
When we return, Douglas has Ramon trapped in an abdominal stretch and like a good heel he uses the rope for leverage until the official catches it. Douglas goes for it again and Ramon merely reverses it into one of his own until Douglas hiptosses out. Douglas tries to hit a reverse body press off the top rope but Ramon rolls through it for two. Douglas eats the Razor’s Edge and that finishes at 4:26 shown. It was obvious at this point that Douglas’s tenure in the WWF was coming to an end. The cutting of the match made it appear that Ramon squashed him. Grade: D
-Brother Love is here and his guest is King Mabel. Mabel says that at In Your House 5 he will be the first man to stuff the Undertaker in his own casket. Okay, this type of revision is unforgiveable considering that Yokozuna had just defeated the Undertaker in a casket match at the Royal Rumble a year before. Brother Love tells Mabel that he has a surprise for him and has a druid bring a big casket to the ring. As Mabel gets angry, Love tells him to hold on and shows that the druid is Sir Mo and that the casket is custom made for Mabel. I would hardly call the casket custom made because it just has a lot of graffiti on it.
-Ramon tells Jannetty to go and chop Sid down like a tree…just like you did a few weeks ago, right Razor?
-Promo for the Raw Bowl on January 1st.
-Call 1-900-TITAN-91 to get a cardboard standup of Diesel and/or the Undertaker. They are each $25 (as long as you also pay $3.95 for shipping and handling).
-Sid (w/Ted DiBiase) vs. Marty Jannetty:
Jannetty charges the ring and takes it to the master and the ruler of the world. Jannetty goes for a body press off the ropes but Sid catches him and slams him. Sid stalls and beats on Jannetty as if he’s an afterthought in the corner. After what feels like an eternity, Sid whips Jannetty into the opposite corner but a blind charge misses and Jannetty hits a modified bulldog. Jannetty hits a fist drop off the ropes for two as we go to a commercial break.
When we return, Sid is back on the offensive and takes Jannetty’s head off with a clothesline. Jannetty makes a small comeback but gets caught with a clothesline for two. Sid applies a reverse chinlock and Jannetty gets out. However, when he runs the ropes Sid just grabs him and hurls him out of the ring. As the referee is distracted, DiBiase beats on Jannetty but Jannetty doesn’t sell it. This lack of respect for one’s elders causes the 1-2-3 Kid to come out and kick Jannetty in the back of the head. Ramon comes out and that forces DiBiase and the Kid to flee into the ring. Ramon decks Sid for fun and then chases the Kid through the crowd. The only problem is that it leaves Jannetty all alone and he falls victim to a powerbomb. In the middle of all of this, the referee calls for the bell and awards the bout to Jannetty via a disqualification (or at least that’s what Vince tells us) at 5:08 shown. Way too much stalling and everything fell apart during the finish. Grade: D-
-Dr. Jeffrey Unger, Shawn Michaels’ personal physician, speaks about the Heartbreak Kid’s condition. He runs down the negative effects of post-concussion syndrome and he tells Todd Pettengill that Shawn’s tests haven’t gone well and that he may never fully recover. He says that Shawn may have to retire. McMahon then chimes in that Shawn’s injury has made everyone re-evaluate how they view WWF Superstars.
-Tune in next week to see WWF Champion Bret Hart square off against Bob Backlund!
-The Final Report Card: I had high expectations for this Raw coming in but I should have known better. With Douglas on his way out he wasn’t going to be booked strongly and Jannetty and Sid needed to be booked safely so that both men looked good for the In Your House pay-per-view. The talent pool was really beginning to thin out by this point, as the WWF was lacking in quality heels and the heels that they did have in Douglas, Mabel, 1-2-3 Kid, etc. were not viewed as credible threats. Also, there wasn’t a strong sell for the In Your House pay-per-view on this show and considering that it’s no surprise that the event didn’t sell well.
Show Grade: D-
