Saturday, September 24, 2016

A Taste of the New Generation: Days of Diesel: WWF Monday Night Raw: January 30th, 1995



Raw is still in Palmetto, Florida (but Vince and Shawn certainly aren't) as tonight we promise that for realsies we're getting an apology from Bam Bam Bigelow to Lawrence Taylor. Also tonight is the rematch between the Smoking Gunns and 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly.


But opening our show is a "one on one Royal Rumble"  between Mabel and King Kong Bundy. Ted Dibiase cuts a promo telling us the rules of the match. Simply throw  the other over the top rope. Mabel tries to toss Bundy out early on, but no avail. Bundy lays some clubbing strikes then tries to toss Mabel out, but Mabel clutches the ropes. Mabel tries again on Bundy as the crowd is behind him, but still no luck. Bundy tries, but still fails. Bundy whips Mabel into the corner and lands an avalanche splash. He tries again at throwing Mabel over, but still no luck. Mabel gets a spin kick to the back of the head of Bundy. He tries an elbow drop, but misses. Bundy goes back to the ropes, trying to chuck out Mabel, but still no luck.


Suddenly IRS and Tatanka show up and try to help Bundy push Mabel over the ropes. They succeed in doing so as Luger and Mo show up. Kind of a bland match with a lame finish. In fact it felt like they knew this was bad and rushed the finish so they could get out of there.


We go to Bam Bam Bigelow for his apology and this time there are no sound issues to interfere in his statement. Bam Bam isn't too happy to be reminded of losing to the Kid and Holly in the tag title match. Bigelow is especially not too happy that the crowd were laughing and jeering at him. In terms of Lawrence Taylor, he feels L.T disrespected him. He thinks L.T should have shown respect, but he put him on a lower level. Bigelow was going to make his apology, but it doesn't feel right. If he shoved him, he should have shoved him harder. If L.T wants to put dignity on the line, then face him one on one.


Hakushi is in action next against Ricky Santana. Hakushi gets a hair pull early on. Santana manages a cross body for a one count. However Hakushi quickly comes back with an enziguri to the back of the head. Kick to the face followed by a clubbing strike to the back of the head. Another boot to the face and a series of hard headbutts. Santana tries to fight back, but gets a chop to the head. Santana gets some offense, but misses a big splash in the corner.  More clubbing chops to the side of the head by Hakushi. Both Hakushi and Santana exchange chops, but Hakushi proves the better man. Nice dropkick by Hakushi. Santana gets a kick, but is quickly stopped by a back suplex. Hakushi hits a flying shoulder block off the top buckle. Body slam and a handspring splash for the three. A bit of a dull squash with too many chops, but otherwise another great showing by Hakushi.


Aldo Montoya is in action next against David Sierra. Sierra starts with some strikes and a whip, but Aldo turns it around and lands a dropkick, sending Sierra out of the ring. Aldo follows with a plancha over the top rope. Aldo lays some punches to the face of Sierra, but Sierra gets a body slam. He goes to the top turnbuckle, but Aldo throws him off. Irish whip and a big chop by Aldo followed by a clothesline. Aldo hits a flipping bulldog off the second buckle for the three in a decent enhancement match.


It's time once again for another edition of the King's Court. His guest is Mr. Bob Backlund. Backlund promises that from now on, he will never let go of the Chicken Wing until his opponent screams "I quit Mr. Bob Backlund".  Lawler guarantees that the hold can be put on anybody, which Backlund promises. No one is exempt from that policy. No one is exempt, including himself (I think he was supposed to say including Lawler, but he said "Yours truly"). He tries to lock the hold and Lawler quickly quits. Lawler quickly tries to claim he quit the interview and Backlund comes back to the ring.  Lawler tries to distract Backlund with Bret and escapes. A better, but a bit too long to get to the point edition this week.


Up next, it's the rematch for the WWF Tag Team Titles. The 1-2-3 Kid & Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly taking on The Smoking Gunns. Billy and The Kid start action as The kid manages a drop toe hold, an arm drag takedown and a spin kick to the face. Cover gets two. The Kid gets a headlock, but Billy manages to escape. Bart tags himself in but gets a kick to the midsection. Tag to Holly as they hit a double dropkick to Bart. Body slam and an elbow drop by Holly. Tag to the Kid who gets another kick to the ribs, but Bart manages a hair pull slam.

Tag to Billy who gets a whip and a spinning elbow to the face for two. Tag to Bart as both Gunns hit a double leg sweep for two. When we return the Kid gets a double clothesline and a tag to Holly who lands a nice dropkick to Bart for two. Holly stomps Bart in the corner followed by a hard whip to the buckle and a clothesline. Cover, but Billy quickly breaks. Headlock takedown and a cover for two by Holly. Tag to the Kid who  lands some kicks in the corner. Tag to Holly who pulls of a snapmare. cover for two. Small package for two. Bart whips Holly into the corner, but eats a boot to the face. Inverted atomic drop by Holly and an elbow to the back of the head.


Tag to Billy who stomps Holly in the corner. Holly tries to fight out, but Billy lays even more blows. Tag to Bart who body slams Holly for two. Chinlock by Bart. Holly escapes, but both men collide into each other with cross bodies. Holly manages a tag to the Kid who knocks Billy down and lands kicks to both Gunns. More kicks in the corner including one to the back of the head. The Kid goes for a flipping move, but he crashes and burns.


Tag to Billy, but the Kid is out cold. Officials go to check on the Kid as the match is called off. A good match up until the crash and burn finish. Post-match, the EMTs are in the ring as Vince is somber about what just happened.  But then 180s after the break happily saying that the Kid walked off on his own power. We don't see it, but sure. Okay then. Well that's a mood whiplash.


Up next is the Raw debut of Kama: The Supreme Fighting Machine. Shawn is particularly interested as he is still looking for a new bodyguard. Kama goes for a punch, but his opponent Jumbo Barretta ducks. Barretta gets some shots, but Kama comes back with some kicks in the corner. Wrist lock and a takedown. Some punches and a top wrist locks following by some hard kicks, including one to the back of the head.  Big body slam to the massive Barretta. Vince shills the card next week, including a six man tag as the Corporation will face Men on a Mission and Lex Luger.  Big whip to the corner and another big kick followed by knee strikes. Kama gets a facelock and a strike to the back of the head. Chinlock by Kama turned into some pressure on the nose. Belly to belly suplex by Kama who finishes with an STF for the win and an end to Raw. A very boring squash honestly.

And that kind of sums this episode of Raw. Pretty boring for the most part. The King's Court with Backlund was great, albeit it felt a bit awkward in places, and it's especially weird to see Backlund focusing on attacking a fellow heel, even if the intent was to show the power of the Chicken Wing. The tag title rematch was good, though the anticlimactic finish really hurt it. Also the rushed "he's okay folks" from Vince afterward just felt silly, like they tried to rush things. And that's how this show felt. It tried to rush the big matches while giving us more time for some rally bland squashes. It just didn't mix too well and thus it left this feeling like a pretty bad episode. I give this Raw a C-. 

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