Thursday, December 1, 2016

A Taste of the New Generation: Days of Diesel: WWF Monday Night Raw: May 1st, 1995



We kick off the May 1st edition of Raw with the firing of Bam Bam Bigelow from the Million Dollar Corporation. From his loss to Diesel to the beatdown from Sid and the Corporation and the save by Diesel. We see the official face turn of Bam Bam as he shakes the hand of Diesel. Vince in all his gravelly form promotes tonight's match of Razor Ramon taking on Sycho Sid. We're continuing the Omaha, Nebraska tapings with a stacked night of squashes. Jerry Lawler has a contract with him that he wants Bret Hart to sign.


Opening action tonight is the Allied Powers taking on Ron Hagan and George Anderson. We learn via Vince and Lawler that Jeff Jarrett was stripped of the IC title in a controversial match against Bob Holly on the previous day's episode of the Action Zone, only for Jarrett to win it right back later in the evening. Lex Luger and Anderson start. Shoulder block and hiptoss from Luger to start, followed by a body slam and arm drag.

Tag to British Bulldog who drops a forearm to the arm. Tag to Hagan who takes Bulldog to the corner, but Bulldog comes back with a back suplex. Stalling suplex by Bulldog. Tag to Anderson as Bulldog throws him in. Tag to Luger who lands some clotheslines and a knee lift. Tag back to Bulldog, but Anderson gets a thumb to the eye. Anderson misses a splash in the corner and Bulldog comes back with a powerslam for the three. Short and sweet squash. I've actually been enjoying the Allied Powers so far.


After recapping the IC Title situation on the Action Zone, it's Bob Holly in action taking on Butler Stevens.  Arm drag by Holly early on. Stevens takes Holly to the corner, but Holly comes back with slams, arm drags and hiptosses. Powerslam by Holly who covers for two. Stevens reverses a whip, but Holly gets a hiptoss followed by a knee drop. He locks in an wristlock until Stevens takes Holly to the corner with strikes. Holly comes back with a clothesline. Picture perfect dropkick from Holly who finishes it off with a flying body press for three in another short, but decent squash.


It's time for this week's edition of the In Your House report. Due to the 1-2-3 Kid being injured, Razor needs a new tag team partner for his tag match at In Your House. But instead of just finding a partner, Razor will take them both on in a handicap match. Pettengill shills the WWF line (Vince wants your dollar after all). As for the rest of the card, it's about the same. Diesel defending his title against Sid, Bret Hart taking on Hakushi and the house giveaway.  We also get shilling for Owen vs Bart Gunn and Jeff Jarrett vs Doink on next week's Raw.


Mantaur (holy crap he's still around) against Sonny Rogers next. He squashes Rogers into the corner and hits a big hiptoss, followed by another. Headbutt followed by some hard forearms. Mantaur tries a splash, but misses. Rogers rolls him up for two. Dropkicks by Rogers are unable to take Mantaur down. Mantaur lands some big forearms and a really nice belly to belly suplex. Big clothesline by Mantaur followed by a stomp. Messy press slam gets the win for Mantaur in another fast, but decent, squash.


We cut to a vignette of Man Mountain Rock being interrogated by Nick Turturro. Turturro doesn't get the idea that Man Mountain Rock can be both a wrestler and a rock star. He does so by slamming Turturro. At least this didn't take a transphobic turn like the one with Paul Bearer and Mr. Fuji.

Up next, it's Sycho Sid taking on Razor Ramon. Well... not so much.


Sid attacks Razor as Razor's pyro goes off, and hits a powerbomb. He hit a second powerbomb as Diesel comes in for the save. Sid leaves the ring and mumbles "they will all learn" up the ramp way as Diesel checks on Razor.


Up next, it's Adam Bomb taking on Dave Sigfrid. Now Adam is being called the "creation of devastation". Well, it's better than most of the additions he's gotten over the years. Sigfrid tries a wristlock, but Adam Bomb quickly turns it around. Drop toe hold by Adam Bomb followed by a snap suplex.  He locks Sigfrid in a headlock and followed by a shoulder block. Sigfrid tris a hiptoss, but eats a clothesline. Hard whip to the clothesline by Adam Bomb, but Sigfrid gets a boot. Cross body by Sigfrid connects, but Adam Bomb turns it around to a cover for two. Adam Bomb locks in another chinlock until Sigfrid breaks it. However, Sigfrid misses a dropkick,  allowing for Adam Bomb to nail some right hands. Big hip toss and a pair of clotheslines followed by one off the top rope for the win for Adam Bomb. Not a bad squash match, honestly. We learn that Adam Bomb will face Mabel at In Your House.


Ray Rougeau tries to get answers from Razor Ramon about what had happened, but since Razor is clearly still feeling the effects of two powerbombs, he tries to get an answer from Earl Hebner, who is also befuddled.

We get our next vignette with Hunter Hearst Helmsley who still doesn't say much.


Men on a Mission are in action next against Kevin Kruger and Bill Duke. Vince shills the Thursday airing of King Ralph (or as Vince puts it King RRAALPH). Mabel starts it with Kruger. Hard shove by Mabel early on. Kruger tries an arm wringer, but eats a clothesline and a double arm chokeslam. Mabel tries a body slam, but Kruger escapes. He tries a sunset flip, Mabel goes to jump on him, but misses. Tag to Duke as both men try dropkick, but Mabel squashes them both.

Tag to Mo who hits some strikes to the back of Duke. Duke goes for offense, but Mo hits a knee to the gut.  He drops a knee to the back and tries an elbow drop, only to miss. Mo reverses a whip, but Kruger manages a cross body. Tag to Duke who hits an axe handle to the arm. Elbow by Mo followed by a DDT. Cover, but Mo lifts the head. He does it a couple times to mock Duke. Body slam by Mo followed by a chinlock. He rams Duke in the corner and tags Mabel. Double elbow to the face by Men on a Mission. Headbutt by Mabel followed by a massive double team splash in the corner. Belly to Belly on Duke gets the win for Mabel. Overall, a decent squash match. That's been the story of the night so far. Decent squashes.


Bret Hart comes to ringside to deal with this contrat that Lawler has. Lawler's claim is that he challenged Bret first, but Bret accepted a match with Hakushi instead. Bret calls Lawler a liar.  He promises to beat Hakushi at in your house. Lawler calls Bret a coward, but Bret tells him to shut up. He'll beat Hakushi, and after that he'll accept the challenge to wrestler Lawler as well at In Your House. He promises to send Lawler straight to the outhouse.   As Bret leaves, Lawler cackles. Clearly he has something up his sleeve.

Not too much to say about this Raw honestly. All the squashes were actually decent. Nothing amazing mind you, but they weren't too boring, which is usually the problem with a lot of them. Hell, when you can be impressed with Mantaur, that's a good example of an easy sit. I do like the continuing saga with Lawler and Bret, and the Razor/Sid angle worked well enough to build Sid as this unhinged maniac who is quick to strike, as he adds Razor to the list of victims over the past few weeks. Does a good job at building Sid and Diesel for In Your House. Overall, this Raw gets a B-. Nothing really worth coming back to, but nothing horrible either.

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