*** Scott & JT’s Vintage Vault Refresh reviews are a chronological look back at WWE PPV and TV history that began with a review of WrestleMania I. The PICs have revisited these events and refreshed all of their fun facts that provide insight into the match, competitors and state of the company as well as their overviews of the match action and opinions and thoughts on the outcomes. In addition, Jeff Jarvis assists in compiling historical information and the Fun Facts in each of the reviews. Also, be sure to leave feedback on the reviews at our Facebook page. Enjoy! ***
Monday Night Raw #109
May 1, 1995 (Taped April 24, 1995)
Civic Auditorium
Omaha, NE
Announcers: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
1) Allied Powers defeat George Anderson & Ron Hagan when British Bulldog pinned Anderson with the powerslam at 2:41
Scott: Wow we’ve watered down the jobber pool to these faceless guys? After a flat, lumbering opener at WrestleMania XI, the Allied Powers are trying to get themselves into the tag title picture. Davey Boy goes with the flow on any creative plans, but you know Lex Luger can’t be thrilled about being in a mid-card tag team, instead of turning heel and feuding with Diesel. I’m sure at this point that would have been better for him. I guess last week’s live show garnered record ratings. And there’s the Duckman references and we are barely five minutes into the match. This was a squash, but the other news we find out is that the Intercontinental Title was hung up due to a controversial Jeff Jarrett/Bob Holly match. Grade: DUD
JT: Welcome to this week’s episode of Raw where we are coming at you via videotape, still in Omaha and still with Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler in the booth. We are closing in on the inaugural In Your House so we have a lot of business to take care of tonight. We kick things off with a lengthy recap of the Bam Bam Bigelow/Diesel match and fall out and the opening things up in the arena is the fairly new team of Lex Luger and Davey Boy Smith, the Allied Powers, battling George Anderson and Ron Hagan. The Power picked up a big win at WrestleMania and are seemingly being positioned as future top contenders to our Tag Team Champions, Owen Hart & Yokozuna. Vince notes that least week’s Raw had record setting viewership, so good on them, as despite the cool product it seems the TV audience has strengthen a bit. Jerry Lawler is still trying to get Bret Hart to sign a contract for a match and Vince reveals that the Hitman will be here to confront the King tonight. Vince also tells us that 1-2-3 Kid has an injured neck and is out of action and as part of that, Bob Holly replaced him in an IC Title match with Jeff Jarrett over the weekend. The match had a controversial ending and as a result the title was held up. Luger & Davey make really quick work of their opponents and pick up another win as they continue to build momentum week-to-week. Grade: DUD
*** We head back to yesterday’s Action Zone where we had a controversial finish to the Intercontinental Title match between Jeff Jarrett and Bob Holly. Both men picked up tainted falls but Holly ended up leaving with the strap. After some confusion and referee debates, Jack Tunney decreed the title is vacated and the two would face off in a rematch for the gold on this weekend’s Action Zone. ***
2) Bob Holly defeats Butler Stevens with a high cross body at 2:48
Scott: What kind of throwaway name is Butler Stevens? We’ve been told that the Intercontinental Title is vacant after yesterday’s shenanigans with Jeff Jarrett and Bob Holly. They will wrestle this coming Sunday on Action Zone to decide who the champ is. I love how these jobbers get ribbed by Vince & Lawler, that apparently Stevens is a pest control guy. This is another throwaway trash match. Grade: DUD
JT: Back to the ring, our would-be IC Champion Bob Holly jogs to the ring for a match with Butler Stevens and his Gor-Tex tights. Random commentary tonight as Lawler is discussing the day jobs of these jobbers. In our last match, we had a fie science major and now Stevens is in pest control. Vince and King also talk about the issues between Razor Ramon and Jeff Jarrett and their upcoming showdown at In Your House. Holly nabs the win and is prepped for his huge match this Sunday as he looks to defeat Double J and officially nab the IC title. Grade: DUD
*** Todd Pettengill is on the scene with this week’s In Your House report. The show comes to us live in two weeks time on Mother’s Day and what a perfect gift for Mom it would be. And it only costs $14.95! Here are the matches discussed:
Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett & Roadie
Diesel vs. Psycho Sid – WWF Title
Bret Hart vs. Hakushi
Oh, the WWF is also giving away a house! Yes, that is right. Get your entries submitted today for a chance to win a wonderful vacation home in Orlando, FL. It all goes down in two weeks so call your cable company today! ***
3) Mantaur defeats Sonny Rogers with a powerslam at 2:25
Scott: This guy was still with the WWF at this point? This gimmick is as idiotic as Doink is at this point. The WWF needs to get rid of these terrible gimmicks that would have worked in 1987. Seeing Cornette manage this guy was like when Bobby Heenan managed the Missing Link. That made no sense either. Vince & Lawler are starting get some chemistry, which Vince hasn’t had with anyone since Savage left back in November. Vince says Todd & Stephanie will be doing Mania from the house being given away on May 14. I wonder why Vince didn’t do this back in the late 80s when he really had money. Mantaur wins. Grade: DUD
JT: The hits keep on coming as Mantaur charges to the ring alongside Jim Cornette for a showdown with Sonny Rogers. This mid card is really mired with a lot of useless bodies. I mean, this guy is big, can work a bit and has Cornette to talk to him but why not give him a basic roughhouse gimmick and push him a bit? Instead he looks like a goof and has zero credibility when he is basically a buffalo. Vince and King talk about Bam Bam Bigelow and the Corporation, saying Sid cajoled the troops into backing him against Bammer. It is also cool that Todd and Stephanie will be hosting Mania from the Orlando house this weekend. That is a neat touch and a good last hard sell. Mantaur wins and continues going absolutely nowhere fast. Grade: DUD
*** The suddenly red hot Psycho Sid heads to the ring alongside Ted DiBiase for his match with Razor Ramon. Ramon is out next but as he poses in front of his pyrotechnics, Sid steps through the spraying fireworks and levels Ramon. Sid continues to beat Ramon down and drop him with a pair of powerbombs, ending the match before it even starts. Diesel would eventually make the save. ***
4) Adam Bomb defeats Dave Sigfrid with a top rope clothesline at 3:41
Scott: Before this match, some thoughts on the segment that just happened. It’s great to see Razor Ramon back on Raw, and facing one of my favorite guilty pleasure guys in history, even with his thimble of ability. I was curious if Sid could actually beat Diesel at In Your House. Sid joining the Corporation does help them also. The match never gets going, as Sid jumps the Bad Guy and powerbombs him twice. Diesel runs in and Sid runs away. I have to say, I don’t like this Sid running away from a fight. The NWA Sid would have gone nose to nose with Diesel and DiBiase should have moved to get Sid out of the ring. Instead Sid runs away like a cowardly WWF heel. That’s totally neutering his character.
Now back to the ring. This is probably one of the worst Raws in a while in terms of in-ring action. The one match everybody wanted to see ends in a no-contest mess, and the rest is unwatchable squashes. It is announced that Adam Bomb will face Mabel at IYH. I don’t like the prospect of that. I wanted one of those Adam Bomb footballs. Grade: DUD
JT: Coming off a pretty hot segment with Pyscho Sid and Razor Ramon, we head to the ring where Adam Bomb hits the ring for a match with Dave Sigfrid. Vince notes that Bomb will face Mabel at IYH, Mabel’s first big match as a heel singles star. Back to that previous segment, they are doing a nice job establish Sid as a monster heel. He has run roughshod over everyone since attacking Shawn Michaels the night after WrestleMania and his tear has been reminiscent of his 1992 run of terror. Here he backed off from Diesel but he certainly has to be in the champion’s head heading into Syracuse. Vince and King talk about Bomb’s chances with Mabel in two weeks and also chat about Bret Hart. Bomb mows through Sigfrid and picks up a TV win as he rolls toward his clash with Mabel. Grade: DUD
*** Ray Rougeau is backstage and tries to chat with Razor Ramon, but he is being attended to by officials and Diesel, still hurting too much to talk. Rougeau says somebody has to stop Sid. We then check out a quick vignette of the soon-to-be debuting Hunter Hearst-Helmsley. ***
5) Men on a Mission defeat Bill Duke & Kevin Krueger when Mabel pins Duke with a belly-to-belly suplex at 4:37
Scott: Wow this episode is getting worse and worse. MOM are now full blown heels as they are wearing more black and Mabel has skull & crossbones on his boots. The episode is loaded with all the top flight guys except Shawn Michaels (who’s injured) but the actual matches this week are complete crap. At least the jobbers all got paid, it’s like the old NWA Saturday Night episodes when we would have 11 or 12 matches and all the jobbers got paid to work about four minutes. Vince is awful, expecting MOM to get disqualified for “poor sportsmanship”. So pitiful and milquetoasty. Grade: DUD
JT: Time for our final match of the evening as Men on a Mission hit the ring for tag team action. Both Mabel and Mo have cleaned up their look a bit, ditching all the hair dye and sporting jet black hair and darker overall tones in their costumes. Vince plugs King Ralph, this Thursday’s USA Movie special. That is a classic! Set your VCRs now! Vince now clarifies that the Mabel vs. Bomb match at IYH will be a King of the Ring qualifier, so there you go. The commentary really focuses on the size and power of Mabel here, rebuilding him as a threat. We kind of have more than one Mo here here as MOM Mo tussles with Krueger, who has a haircut like Mo of the Three Stooges. MOM mess around a bit but dominate this one, grabbing the win after a Mabel belly-to-belly. The big man is prepped for Syracuse where a coveted KOTR spot will be on the line. Grade: DUD
*** Bret Hart heads to ringside to confront Jerry Lawler about his open challenge. Hart calls Lawler a liar and says he has a commitment to wrestle Hakushi at In Your House and that is what he is going to do in Syracuse. Lawler says Hart is spineless and ducking him. Hart tells him to shut up and says he will also accept King’s challenge and will wrestle him that same night after he defeats Hakushi. ***
Final Analysis
Scott: These matches are becoming worse and worse. Sure we have some great personalities and characters but the workrate in this company right now is pretty much Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and maybe one or two others. The main event workers are utter crap. Diesel needs Bret and Shawn to move him along, otherwise we are in trouble. The prospect of this Diesel/Sid match being good is very low. The crowd was hot, but I certainly think it was doctored up a bit. With Bob Backlund vanquished Bret Hart seems to be floating around and just having mini feuds with Jerry Lawler lingering in the distance. We still have tag team division issues and other than Razor not any credible challengers for Jeff Jarrett’s IC Title. This episode falls a bit flat as we move towards this new PPV concept. Final Grade: D+
JT: This was a very odd episode of Raw. There was some good storyline stuff in here and lots of energy throughout but man the in ring action was dog shit. A big part of that was the marquee match not happening, but that trade off was OK as the attack by Sid was really well done. They have built him up nicely as the top heel and threat to Diesel and their match at IYH has some good heat on it as of now. I will also say the crowd audio was clearly sweetened up this week and it was a bit distracting. The roar was blaring and you could see most fans just sitting around. They did pop for certain stuff, especially Bret Hart, but overall it was a bit overbearing. Also, while the card is strong up top, the middle and bottom is as weak as ever, filled with miscreants that have no chance to ever elevate up. They certainly have some talent, it just needs to be better deployed week to week. Some house cleaning and repackaging wouldn’t hurt either. Until next week! Final Grade: C-
