*** 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 #118

July 3, 1995 (June 26, 1995)
Danville High School
Danville, PA
Announcers: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

1) 1-2-3 Kid defeats Mike Bell with a spinning heel kick at 2:40

Scott: We start the show with the return of the 1-2-3 Kid, who had a major neck injury that has kept him out for the past few months. That included WrestleMania, as even though he was on camera he didn’t wrestle. I just realized they’ve never announced what building they’re actually in. As a matter of fact I’m trying to find where Danville actually is. The crowd is pretty hot for even this second episode of the night. Vince is going way over the top of Jerry Lawler’s “bad breath” from the Kiss my Foot match. That will be beat into the ground for the next several weeks. Meanwhile the Kid doesn’t show too much ring rust against this bum, and he gets the victory. Grade: 1/2*

JT: Welcome to this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw where we are coming at you via videotape from Danville, PA, now two weeks removed from King of the Ring. Vince McMahon is rejoined by Jerry Lawler, who took last week off to visit his dentist and friend, Isaac Yankem. We open things up with the 1-2-3 Kid, who is making his return after some time off due to a neck injury. As Kid is working over Mike Bell, Vince is still ragging on the King for his bad breath as a result of his loss to Bret Hart in Philly. King is swigging mouthwash and promises to introduce us to Yankem later tonight too. Bell’s candy striper tights certainly are something.Vince reminds us that Jeff Jarrett and Roadie were the ones that injured Kid’s neck earlier this year. Kid makes swift work of Bell, finishing him with a spinning heel kick. Good to see the Kid back in action. Grade: DUD

*** Todd Pettengill is here with an In Your House report as the show is three weeks away, live in Nashville. Here are the matches discussed:

Diesel vs. Sid – WWF Title Lumberjack Match
Sid’s Lumberjacks: IRS, Kama, Eli Blu, Jacob Blu, King Mabel
Diesel’s Lumberjacks: Adam Bomb, Razor Ramon, Savio Vega, Billy Gunn, Bart Gunn

Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett – WWF Intercontinental Title
1-2-3 Kid vs. Roadie
Lex Luger & British Bulldog vs. Yokozuna & Owen Hart – WWF Tag Team Title Match

Jeff Jarrett will be also performing “With My Baby Tonight” live and in addition to that, twenty more lumberjacks and more matches are still to be revealed, so be sure to stay tuned to the WWF network of programming as the days and weeks move along! ***

*** We check out the official music video for Jeff Jarrett’s hit single “With My Baby Tonight”. ***

2) Bob Holly defeats Brooklyn Brawler with a cross body off the top rope at 2:30

Scott: We just got our first IYH report, and after having NO TITLE MATCHES at the KOTR, all three belts are on the line July 23 in Nashville. Speaking of Jeff Jarrett, “With My Baby Tonight” just debuted, and it sounds… lip synched. Interesting. Vince can’t stop with the Lawler bad breath jokes and it’s ruining the matches, even if they are crap squash matches. The weird thing about the two title feuds going on right now is that the champions are chasing the challengers. Diesel is the WWF Champion yet he’s chasing Sid around, thus the Lumberjack Match stipulation at IYH. Same with Jeff Jarrett, who gave an IC Title match to Shawn Michaels. So weird. Holly wins. Grade: DUD

JT: We head back down to the ring as Bob Holly jogs out to take on the erstwhile Brooklyn Brawler, who is still milling around. Vince and King talk about the “With My Baby Tonight” music video and then we get back to more bad breath and foot jokes, the running commentary theme for the past five weeks. Vince also plugs the Superstar Line, where Jim Ross has details on potential lumberjacks that Ted DiBiase is trying to pay off. Brawler gets a little bit of offense in but Holly easily finishes him off with a high cross body. This has certainly been the best stretch of Holly’s career as the first half of 1995 has been filled with PPV appearances and regular TV appearances. Grade: DUD

*** We head back to Superstars where Adam Bomb battled Henry Godwinn. The match ended in a double countout but after the bell, Godwinn emptied his slop bucket on the back of Bomb. ***

3) Henry Godwinn defeats Barry Horowitz with the Slop Drop at 2:15

Scott: It really seems like Barry Horowitz is getting a weird “jobber push” from Vince, who is continuously saying that Horowitz has never won a match. Although now he seems to be a fan favorite only because he’s wrestling heels instead of faces. That makes me laugh. But Barry gets some moves in and the crowd is getting behind him, however Henry ducks a drop kick and hits the Slop Drop for the victory. The rest of match time is spent with Barry Didinsky shilling t-shirts. Grade: 1/2*

JT: Next up, Henry Godwinn slinks to the ring, slop bucket in hand, as he takes on Barry Horowitz. Barry gets little pockets of offense as Vince reminds us that Horowitz has never won a match in the WWF. He also says that DiBiase is a bit enamored with Godwinn and may be recruiting him soon. After more fucking talk about Lawler’s breath and a flurry by Barry, Godwinn takes control and lands the Slop Drop for the victory. It seems as if the Hog Man’s stock is on the rise of late. Grade: DUD

*** Barry Didinsky is in the aisle shilling Shawn Michaels, Adam Bomb and Bam Bam Bigelow t-shirts, available for Raw viewers tonight. Get on the horn NOW! ***

4) Psycho Sid defeats Bam Bam Bigelow after Henry Godwinn shoves Bigelow off the top rope at 5:38

Scott: I already know where this is going. This is either going to end in a schmozz or Sid’s going to win. Sid has his second World Title match in three weeks and he’s not going to job to Bam Bam. Bigelow & Henry Godwinn start brawling up the aisle as it looks like the hog farmer is in Ted DiBiase’s employ based on the non-verbal cues between the two of them. After that putrid KOTR PPV disaster, complete with “ECW” chants and batteries flying everywhere, this IYH coming up seems like a pretty good show. As expected Bigelow is pretty much wrestling a handicap match as Sid and DiBiase are beating Bigelow down in and outside of the ring. I have to say I’m not a fan of this heel Sid, begging off babyfaces and acting like a Federation Era heel. Even in the late 80s-early 90s when Sid was in the Horsemen or in the Skyscrapers in WCW he didn’t act like this. Vince’s philosophy has practically emasculated him and made him one of those old school heels that doesn’t fit the mold. He shouldn’t be in this awful Corporation stable of losers, he should just be on his own. Bigelow starts to get some momentum late in the match but I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sid goes for a powerbomb but Bigelow reverses into a back drop. Bigelow was going for the flying head butt but Godwinn shoves him off the corner and falls on his head. Sid gets the cheap pinfall for the victory and then Sid hits a powerbomb for good measure. Grade: *1/2

JT: We head right back to the ring where Psycho Sid stalks out with Ted DiBiase for our marquee match of the evening. Henry Godwinn is still milling around ringside and DiBiase gives him the sexy eyes and mimes telling him to stay near by. After a break, Bam Bam Bigelow chugs out but Godwinn gets in his path and shoves him. Bigelow fires back and the two hosses brawl briefly until officials break them up. Bammer regroups and slowly hits the ring to disrobe as Sid and DiBiase stand around on the floor. Vince says Sid spends a lot of time out of the ring and there are questions of cowardice surrounding him, which explains the IYH stipulation. Bigelow lands a few blows early and then buries Sid with a leaping shoulder block. Sid tried to use a DiBiase distraction to sneak up on Bammer but that backfired. Bigelow dodged a charge in the corner and hit a DDT but as he headed up top, DiBiase baited him down to the floor. That allowed Sid the chance to regroup and head out as well where he clubbed Bigelow down and then kicked him hard in the gut. Back inside, Sid continued to worked Bammer over with hard right hands and boots and controlled right through the break. After we returned, Bigelow powered out of a seated chinlock and spiked Sid to the mat. Bigelow tried to charge to the corner but ate a big boot and a chokeslam. Sid then loaded up the powerbomb but Bigelow blocked it with a back drop and then headed up top again. However, this time, Godwinn showed back up and shoved Bigelow hard to the mat. Sid crawled over and covered Bigelow to nab the win. After the bell, Sid hit the powerbomb as DiBiase cackled on the apron. Tough loss for Bigelow but the bigger alarm bell is that is seems like Bigelow is being transitioned over to feud with Godwinn, which would take him out of his main event slot. He did look strong in the match but like kind of a bum after it. This booking of Sid has really deteriorated since KOTR. Before that, he was still booked pretty strongly, but since he walked out of that match he is being presented as a cowardly pussy that needs DiBiase’s money to keep him ahead. Dominant monster Sid is a much superior option. The match was solid and the crowd was pretty hyped but the finish didn’t really show promise for the future prospects of either man. Grade: *1/2

*** We check out footage of the WWF’s recent involvement with the kick off of the Special Olympics World Games. ***

5) Waylon Mercy defeats Jeff Hardy via submission with a sleeperhold at 2:50

Fun Fact: Dan Spivey trained in Florida, primarily by Dusty Rhodes with some additional work with Barry Windham and Rick Martel. Rhodes made a deal with Jim Crockett to bring Spivey and tag partner, Scott Hall, into the Carolinas when they were ready to debut, which took place in 1984. The team were called American Starship, a masked duo made up of Eagle (Spivey) and Coyote (Hall). After working with Crockett and some other NWA territories, Spivey went on his own and signed with the WWF in late 1985. He teamed with Mike Rotunda to replace Windham in the US Express. After Rotunda left the WWF, Spivey started a short and unsuccessful singles run as “Golden Boy” Danny Spivey. He stayed with the WWF until the spring of 1988, mainly paired with others in tag team action. Spivey left and started touring with All Japan Pro Wrestling, which he would do on and off until his return here. He also spent time in WCW starting in 1989, where he became a member of the Varsity Club. There he later teamed with Sid Vicious to form The Skyscrapers, a pair that would feud with the Road Warriors. In 1995, Spivey returned to the WWF under the new character, Waylon Mercy, based on a character from the movie “Cape Fear”. This is Spivey’s first WWF PPV appearance since WrestleMania II, where he appeared in the Battle Royal. Waylon Mercy was a very deep character, deeper than you would have expected from 1995 WWF standards. He was a happy go lucky, yet kind of creepy guy who acts like a face but wrestles like a crazed heel. He was set for a big push, but injuries began to plague him and he was forced to the sidelines, thus bringing an aborted end to one of the more intriguing gimmicks of the mid-90s.

Scott: The mysterious Waylon Mercy makes his Raw debut, and I kind of dig his entrance theme. It has that Florida white trash feel. Vince won’t even let Lawler do the USA Movie read (The Star Wars trilogy incidentally) without a stupid bad breath joke. Mercy works a big time squash, hitting a brain buster and hooking a sleeper for the win. Vince is dumbfounded that a heel can be nice to the opponents and the referees before and after his matches. Perhaps this deep character may go over 1995 wrestling fans’ heads. Grade: DUD

JT: It is time for our final match of the evening as Waylon Mercy saunters out to make his Raw debut. Vince talks about what Mercy is all about, as he is kind to fans before the match and even shakes hands with the referee and his opponent, Jeff Hardy. However, once the bell sounds, Mercy turns a bit darker and just starts beating the piss out of Hardy. This is a very intruiging gimmick and his look and music is great too. He is just a very unique wrestler, something that we really needed right now after the parade of cheesy, antiseptic gimmicks that have been showing up since mid-1994. Jerry Lawler promotes the Star Wars trilogy, which airs on USA starting this Wednesday and then he and Vince talk about their July 4th plans. Mercy eventually finishes Hardy with a nice brains buster and a tight sleeperhold, during which he bugged his eyes out insanely. This was a solid debut for ol’ Waylon and brighter days seem to be ahead for this potentially maniacal oddball, ya know what I mean? Grade: DUD

*** We check out footage from earlier today where Jerry Lawler was tormenting children in a waiting room. He ripped on Bret Hart and put over his buddy, Isaac Yankem, DDS as well. Yankee then appeared in the room and told the next patient to enter as he smiled menacingly. ***

Final Analysis

Scott: This show is all about the trashing of Bam Bam Bigelow and the debut of the awesome Waylon Mercy. He really is a character that may go over the heads of most of the fans, particularly the younger ones. Let’s talk about Sid. The 1991-92 Sid was somewhat like the Sid that was awesome as a heel in the late 80s in NWA/WCW. Now the WWF has turned him into a piece of shit heel who backs away from a fight. That’s awful, and totally takes away the one thing that helped those forget Sid is terrible in the ring. Poor Bigelow sacrificed himself for Lawrence Taylor, and in return he gets beaten down by the weaker heels. Not a bad episode, but I feel bad for the guys in the main event. Final Grade: C

JT: We follow up a solid Raw last week with another good effort here tonight. Again, we didn’t really get much a quality anchor match but this Danville crowd has really added a good atmosphere to anything going on during these tapings. And maybe the audio sweetening has improved too? The commentary was again way too focused Jerry Lawler and his fucking breath and it seems like this issue is really far from over at this point. That said, we haven’t even seen Bret Hart around here as the King is solely pushing the issue. The pacing continues to be really good and makes these shows fly by. The squashes were fine this week and I really enjoyed the debut of Waylon Mercy and hopes he gets a good push here. Finally, the IYH card looks pretty strong too thus far so hopefully we can quickly move past King of the Ring, which left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth… ya know what I mean? Final Grade: C+