WWF Monday Night RAW (October 9, 1995)

Original Airdate: October 9, 1995 (Taped September 25)

From Grand Rapids, Michigan; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Over the last week, Shawn Michaels dropped by a school in D.C. as part of a ceremony celebrating good attendance, and actually breaks down in tears over the warm reception from the kids. You could tell they were grooming this guy for the belt, because they're already turning him into a smiling, baby-kissing kind of guy

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Diesel, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker v Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart, and Yokozuna: Vince refers to Diesel as the 'seven foot kick-some-butt WWF Champion!' Okay then! Shawn starts with Owen, and wins a reversal sequence with an overhead elbowsmash. Criss cross goes Shawn's way as well, and Owen ends up on the outside via monkeyflip - triggering a six-way brawl, with the faces cleaning house. The dust settles on Diesel and Bulldog, as Vince does his best to sell Davey's title hopes by noting every achievement on his resume - though doing so while Diesel and Undertaker manhandle him like a jobber might not be the best timing. Tag to Yokozuna, and Diesel manhandles him as well, dropping him with a jumping clothesline. Over to Undertaker for the ropewalk forearm, but a criss cross ends in Yoko dropping him like a Samoan. Undertaker responds with a DDT, as Waylon Mercy shows up in the aisle to observe. Tag to Shawn with a flying axehandle, but he walks into a uranage during a criss cross, and Owen tags in to get the two count off of it. He adds a backbreaker, then tags Davey in for a press-slam, as they cut the ring in half on Michaels - Shawn bouncing around like a pinball for them. Meanwhile, Vince talks about America Online while trying to sound like the next Bill Gates, which is worth the price of admission alone. The heels keep cutting Michaels' comeback attempts off, but Owen misses a flying splash, and Shawn tags Diesel. He's a truck stop of fire, but a cheapshot from Owen allows Davey the Running Powerslam for the pin at 16:00. But then afterwards, the real fun starts, as Mabel and Dean Douglas run in (well, in one case, anyway), and help Owen, Davey, and Yoko put an EPIC beat down on the faces - including Mabel and Yoko taking turns legdropping Undertaker until they legit smash the dudes face. I remember watching this as a kid, and this was all kinds of crazy, because there was no big comeback or save for the faces, but rather the heels just kept destroying them over and over for an extended period, which isn't usually what we'd see in the WWF. This has Bill Watts' fingerprints all over it, and frankly, as much as I dislike other things about Watts' booking style, this was much more effective than anything the heels had done in a long time with the WWF's usual superhero style booking. ***

Review of the Bret Hart versus Jerry Lawler/Isaac Yankem feud. A LONG one, too, running some fifteen minutes, and showing nearly their entire SummerSlam match, in an effort to buildup a Cage Match for next week

Over the weekend, the WWF held a house show in Madison Square Garden for a bunch of 'underprivileged and handicapped' fans. Was that a shoot?

World Tour de Force promo. Even if you're not underprivileged, the WWF will do their best to make you feel like you are, at an arena near you!

Skip v Fatu: Skip uses his speed to stay ahead of him in the early going, but Fatu counters with dancing. Oddly, that's what would finally get him over, four years later. Sunny distracts him to allow Skip a side suplex, and he bodyslams Fatu to setup a 2^nd rope fistdrop. He hurts his hand though, since Fatu is Samoan. He still manages an enzuigiri, but plays grab-ass with Sunny for too long before covering, and it only gets two. Yeah, but who could blame him, though? Snapmare sets up a chinlock, but a flying headbutt backfires because - say it with me - Fatu is Samoan. Fatu comes back with a backdrop and a backbreaker, so Skip makes a last ditch effort with a superplex, but gets shoved down, and Fatu hits a flying splash for the pin at 5:49. Future Hall of Famer, ladies and gentlemen! *

Dok Hendrix is outside of Diesel, Shawn, and Undertaker's dressing room, but doesn't think it's a good time to disturb them. Why? Was this one of those times Diesel pulled Shawn into the shower, or something?

Jim Ross is in Camp Cornette's dressing room, and Jim Cornette and Davey Boy Smith gloat over the beat down, as well as continue to try and convince everyone that Bulldog is a threat by bringing up the win over Bret Hart from three years ago. I get the strategy, but is it really best to highlight the fact that he hasn't had a notable win in over three years? Also, I'd be remiss in not noting the bizarre corduroy cap Bulldog wears for this segment, which was a 'gift from Princess Diana.' Oh, and then Mabel shows up, and tells Davey that 'you're my homie, dawg.' Well, he was the Bulldog, after all

BUExperience: The opening match/angle was tremendous, and really sold the In Your House pay per view well. Even if the show didn’t work out in the end, the strategy and booking were sound, and if they had a better heel than Davey Boy, it probably would have done good business.

The rest of the episode is a total waste, however, as they stall for time via lengthy video packages and endless talking to try and stretch the Grand Rapids taping out to next week.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	10/9/1995
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.6	2.6
Total Wins	2	1
Win Streak	n/a	n/a