WWF Monday Night RAW (January 9, 1995)

Original Airdate: January 9, 1995

From Houston, Texas; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels

Backstage, William Shatner let’s Jerry Lawler that he knows all about his tricks, but he’s not scared about guesting on the King’s Court tonight

Opening WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon v Owen Hart: Owen makes the mistake of trying to steal the Intercontinental belt before the bell, and gets knocked on his ass for it. Hey, he had fair warning. Ramon is always very clear that you will get messed up if you touch his gold. That's Owen's bad. Razor decides to whack him with the title belt to really teach him a lesson, but the referee pulls it away, so Ramon settles for clotheslining Hart over the top. Owen tries going upstairs as he heads back in, but Razor slams him off the top, and gives him Bret's chest-first cross corner bump for two. Owen tries charging into the corner to avoid another whip, but ends up smacking his shoulder into the post, and Razor immediately goes after it with an armbar. Owen flip-flops to escape, but walks into a hard right for two, and back into the armbar. Owen wrestles up to a vertical base and escapes again, but a bodypress follow-up is countered with a blockbuster from the champion. He calls for the Razors Edge, but Hart backdrops him over the top to block, and then dives after him with a tope. Back in, Hart hits a flying bodypress, but Razor rolls through for two - only to walk into a dropkick from the challenger. Owen goes to work with a pair of cross corner whips and an enzuigiri for two, and a straddling ropechoke is worth two. Spinheel kick gets two, and Owen grounds him with a chinlock. Razor powers up, but Owen hits a bodypress to cutoff the comeback, and adds a backbreaker for two. European uppercut dazes Ramon for a sleeper, and the champ fades, but manages to side suplex his way out for two. Both guys stagger up for a Ramon-won slugfest, and he chokeslams his challenger. Side superplex, but Owen backflips off the top turnbuckle, and crotches Ramon on the top rope to setup a missile dropkick. Sharpshooter, but here comes Bret Hart (in his big return after Survivor Series) to kick the shit out of his brother for the DQ at 15:13. That, in turn, draws Jeff Jarrett down, but Razor kicks the shit out of him for good measure, and this probably setup a tag match at some point, though I don't remember it offhand. Good match here, too, with Owen and Razor both working hard, and having one of the better RAW matches we've seen in months. ** ¾

Royal Rumble Report

Backstage, Jerry Lawler promises to use his fist to beam William Shatner up if he doesn't show him the proper respect on the King's Court later

Hakushi v Matt Hardy: This is Hakushi's debut, and he totally dismantles Hardy (who actually tries a moonsault) in short order with a vertical suplex and a slingshot splash at 1:10. This could have probably been damn good had it been a competitive match, but a very energetic squash, none-the-less. ¾*

Jerry Lawler hosts The King's Court, with guest William Shatner. The usual insults are traded, but when the King tries to put his hands on him, Shatner monkeyflips him out of the ring, and Bret Hart runs down to raise his arm for good measure. That draws Jeff Jarrett back down, but he and Lawler settle for threatening them from a distance instead. As a kid, I didn't really know who Shatner was (never watched Star Trek), so this definitely works better for me now than then. In today’s era of RAW guest hosts this is nothing, but it was definitely a big deal at the time

Royal Rumble promo, with all the wrestlers calling and leaving messages (via some weird, toaster sized machine, with buttons, and... tape?) for Pamela Anderson to try and win her over ahead of the Royal Rumble. Seriously, what was that machine? Couldn't they just Tweet her?

King Kong Bundy v Gary Sabaugh: I barely have time to write their names before Bundy squashes him with the Avalanche at 0:23. DUD

The Quarterfinal round of the Tag Team Title Tournament ('TTTT' for short) continues on Superstars, but the Smoking Gunns suffered a TRAGIC rodeo accident, and had to give their place to the makeshift team of 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly - who advanced over Well Dunn

Backstage, Harvey Wippleman prepares for his match with Howard Finkel

Kama vignette. He rides motorcycles! Through the mountains! On the wrong side of the road (and what was with THAT?)! Without even a helmet! HOW COULD THIS NOT GET OVER?!?!?!?!

Tuxedo Match: Howard Finkel v Harvey Wippleman: And, so, we finally get a blowoff to this, after weeks of silly feuding. Finkel attacks him right away, and it's the usual 'roll around and tear clothes' bullshit. Wippleman controls, but can't get Howard completely stripped, and Howard finishes the job at 2:30. Yeah. I remember this one as a kid, and even at ten years old, this was embarrassing. My parents thought wrestling was stupid to begin with, and shit like this didn't help win anyone over. Thankfully, this gimmick shifted into a Divas thing during the Attitude Era, and never looked back. I’m tempted to go negative stars, but for a two minute comedy match between two non-wrestlers, it wouldn’t be fair. DUD

Jeff Jarrett and Roadies come back down to threaten Hart and Shatner, ahead of Jarrett’s match with Bret next week

BUExperience: Sure, the Tuxedo Match is one of the more embarrassing things I’ve ever endured as a fan, but the opener is good, and the Shatner bit is a neat change of pace. Plus, running the show live in a proper arena this week made for a far superior atmosphere than the last few taping cycles