By Haydn Gleed
WWF Raw on the USA Network
Macon, Georgia at the Macon Coliseum
It’s been three weeks since the last Retro Raw. Did you miss me? Go on you know you did even if it was just a little bit. Without further Apu, let’s dive straight into Monday Night Raw from February 20, 1995 which was the 99th edition of Raw….
The graphic in the top left of the screen told us we were live which Vince McMahon confirmed with his usual welcome to Raw spiel. He promoted that tonight we would see Diesel against Jeff Jarrett and Shawn Michaels would announce his new bodyguard. Vince then threw to some backstage pre-recorded comments from both the challenger and champion.
Jeff was up first and he was wearing a flashing jacket and flashing lights. He warned Diesel that once the figure four haha leg lock is applied he will be new haha champion. Diesel was shown leaning against a wall because he’s cool geddit? He said everyone has heard of MTV unplugged, well tonight the WWF goes unplugged when he knocks out Jeff Jarrett’s lights out…
Retro Verdict: Really good and interesting start to Raw. Loved the short but sweet backstage interviews hyping the big match later on this show, made it more important that it would have seemed otherwise.
In the arena, Bam Bam Bigelow made his entrance with The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. Vince ran down what had happened between Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor during and since the Royal Rumble. His opponent was Gary Sabaugh…
1. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Gary Sabaugh. As the match started, they showed a clip of the porn looking guy reading out a statement from two weeks ago. They also showed a clip of Bam Bam calling Taylor a wimp on Superstars, which was then followed by another guy of Taylors legal team saying they felt that the WWF was actively encouraging this behaviour and the a between Bigelow and Taylor.
In the ring, Sabaugh had some offence, mostly because his hair was so bad it was distracting Bam Bam (that’s not true). Vince finally introduced his co-host Jim Cornette who said there was the smell of trouble in the air. Did Vince fart or something?
Bam Bam eventually finished Gary “Bad Hair” Sabaugh with the flying headbutt…
Bam Bam Bigelow beat Gary Sabaugh in 3:43.
After the match, Bam Bam grabbed a microphone and said that Lawrence Taylor had been hiding behind his lawyer and his manager, and that he’s a punk wimp. He said that he will meet him anywhere anyplace.
Retro Verdict: I know how wrong it was to have an American Football player in such a high profile feud that would end up being the main event of WrestleMania 11, but the kid in me who was fascinated with this feud keeps jumping up and down reminding me how much I loved it, and I am finding it entertaining I’ll be honest.
Following a commercial, they again hyped the main event before Adam Bomb made his entrance and was introduced as the creator of devastation…..whatever. His opponent was Rip Rogers who was a long time acquaintance of Jim Cornette outside of WWE….
2. Adam Bomb vs. Rip Rogers. Both men shoved each other to start the match which Rogers managed to lose. The announcers talked about who could possibly be Shawn Michael’s new bodyguard.
In the ring, Rip Rogers did nothing except sell for Adam Bomb. At one point, Bomb slingshotted over the top rope to the floor, which was impressive and the crowd reacted accordingly. Cornette said that Bomb needs to focus on his career and not the cheers of the fans.
Adam Bomb finished Rogers with a clothesline from the top rope…
Adam Bomb beat Rip Rogers in 3:11.
Retro Verdict: I keep saying Bryan Adams could have been a huge success if they had strapped a rocket to his back, but they never did and he ended up being in Kronic…..poor soul.
They showed a clip from Superstars of an award from the WWF Magazine being awarded to Bret Hart which was voted by the people. Bret said, unsurprisingly, that he dreams of once again being the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion.
Back in the arena, the Kings Court set had been setup, and out strolled Jerry “The King” Lawler. He climbed in the ring, and he said before he brings out his special guest Shawn Michaels he wants to comment on Bret Hart’s award. He made some comments about Bret Hart being a racist towards the Japanese people……I really don’t get at all what that was about. Shawn Michaels music thankfully cut him off and out came Michaels.
Lawler said that he’s very excited about Shawn being on the king’s court because of his big announcement. Shawn said that since he won the Royal Rumble, he’s been a marked man, and he said as he gets closer to WrestleMania it’s going to get a lot worse. He said he can’t look like this, you can’t talk like this and get the god given ability that he’s got and not be the envy of everyone in the WWF. He claimed he could beat anyone in the WWF one on one, but not even the Heartbreak Kid can fight off everyone. That’s why he felt it is necessary to get someone to look out for him. He introduced his new bodyguard by saying the big, the bad, the vicious….Sid.
With that the Psycho music played, and out came a jacked up looking Sid who yelled that he’s back. He climbed in the ring and started to pull faces at the camera. Shawn said everyone in the WWF’s eyes are bulging out right now. He handed the spotlight to Sid who said everyone in the world is asking Shawn why get a new bodyguard after Diesel turned his back on him. He said the reason Shawn can trust him is they had a talk and Sid realised that he has no feelings and no remorse. Huh? He said that he would be by the side of Shawn if the time’s were good and when the times were bad, AHHHHHHH, yes he said ahhhh. He said together, they will rule the world because he is the man they call Sid…
Retro Verdict: Oh my god, I had forgotten how freaky, weird, strange and shit Sid was on promos. As a youngster I would have marked out to this, but as an adult, not so much. From a storyline point of view it made sense, and Sid was a good choice, but this brief two minute promo reminded me why Sid never made it as far as his body could have taken him in the WWF.
After a break, Jacob and Eli Blu made their entrance, and were led by Uncle Zeb, who is otherwise known as Dutch Mantel aka Zeb Colter. Their opponents were Mark Starr and Leroy Howard….
3. Jacob and Eli Blu vs. Mark Starr and Leroy Howard. Complete squash match for the hillbilly teammates. They finished off the jobbers with spinebuster into a legdrop.
During the match, they threw to Todd Pettingill who was backstage looking like some 80s tv show character from Saved By The Bell or Miami Vice. He said he has just got off the phone to LT’s (because calling him LT made them seem more cool and hip) representatives and next week LT would be responding to Bam Bam Bigelow and his challenge…
Jacob and Eli Blu beat Mark Starr and Leroy Howard.
Retro Verdict: The Blu’s were just so familiar and a stereotype of what everyone thinks of Hillbilly’s, so didn’t come across as particularly impressive despite Jim Cornette’s best attempt at putting them over. Only real interesting thing about this whole segment was seeing a young(er) Zeb/Dutch with an impressive moustache.
Introductions were made for the main event. There was really a big match feel about it. Jeff Jarrett made his entrance along with Roadie (aka Road Dogg) . The lorry started it’s engine and bellowed it’s horn, and out walked the World Wrestling Federation champion, Big Daddy Cool Diesel….
4. Diesel vs. Jeff Jarrett for the World Heavyweight Championship. Diesel stepped in the ring and the fireworks went off. Cornette talked about Jarrett needing to be quick and use Diesel’s size against him. Jeff charged at Diesel, but eat a knee to the face. This led to several punches to the face followed by a clothesline. Jeff’s was knocked to the outside and Roadie distracted the champion. Jarrett snuck in from behind and had a couple of shots, but Diesel again gained the advantage and threw elbow’s in the corner.
Jarrett tried to whip Diesel across the ring, but Diesel blocked it and threw Jarrett 8 foot in the air across the ring. He picked Jarrett up, but Jeff fought back and ended up punching Diesel ten times. The ref for some reason grabbed Jeff’s hair, which allowed Diesel to recover and literally throw Jarrett clean over the top rope and he landed on Roadie. Wow that was impressive.
Jarrett climbed back in the ring and he held Roadie for leverage but Diesel used his power to pull both of them across the ring. Diesel applied a submission on the hand as we went into a commercial…
Following a commercial, Roadie was distracting Diesel who got hit from behind and to the outside from Jarrett. Road Dogg hit a flying clothesline from the apron, and Jeff ran Diesel into the ring post. Jarrett climbed into the centre of the ring and strutted. He went back outside and continued the beating, before throwing Kevin Nash back in the ring where he hit a clothesline on the champion.
After some further offense, including a beautiful swinging neckbreaker, Diesel caught Jeff coming off the ropes and hit a sidewalk slam. Diesel hit Jeff several time with right hands before whipping him into the corner. He whipped him into the ropes and hit a boot to the face. The champion signaled for the Jackhammer and hit it which led to the three count…
Diesel beat Jeff Jarrett via pinfall in 11:47.
After the match, Shawn Michaels and Psycho Sid walked down the aisle and stared at Diesel. Diesel stared back as they went to the final commercial break. Following the commercial, they showed Vince and Jim Cornette at ringside, where they talked about Lawrence Taylor talking next week. They showed Shawn and Psycho Sid still standing in the aisle. Cornette made me laugh by pointing at Sid and saying quietly he scares me before making the Psycho noise. Shawn and Psycho Sid walked towards the announce desk where Cornette said he doesn’t want to do this.
He said to Shawn keep Sid away from him as he’s nuts. Shawn said yes he is, and Big Daddy Cool I would not want to be in your shoes. He said that he has somebody who can more than fill his shoes. Vince again pushed LT next week and also Lex Luger and Tatanka for the 100th Episode of Raw as the show closed…
Retro Verdict: First of all the match, it was very good. Jarrett did a tremendous job of selling for the big man which is what they wanted. The spot where Diesel threw him in the air over the top rope onto Roadie was great. WWF really built up this match and it was a good showcase for the champion. I have a small nitpick about afterwards. Shawn and Sid were the aisle right? Diesel was in the ring as we went to a commercial. We came back and Shawn and Sid are still in the aisle but Diesel had gone to the back…..how could he have done so without passing his two biggest enemies who he’s feuding with? Just a small thing but took me out of the moment.
This was a very good episode of Raw. The squash matches were what they were, but they showcased the main roster talent very well indeed. The main event was very enjoyable, and the King’s Court was even interesting with the Psycho Sid announcement. Worth a watch if this show is on the network.
Check out the main listings of Prowrestling.net later today for my review of the 27th February 1995 Raw which was episode 100, which also marks my 100th Retro Raw…
As always feel free to get in touch about anything wrestling related @haydngleed or via email haydn.gleed@gmail.com
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