WWF Monday Night RAW (February 27, 1995)

Original Airdate: February 27, 1995 (Taped February 20)

From Macon, Georgia; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette

Lex Luger offers a pre-taped summary of his feud with Tatanka. These sort of became obsolete once the extended in-ring interview segments became en vogue during the Attitude Era, but along with video packages, were a great way to review/refresh feuds and angles

Opening Match: Lex Luger v Tatanka: Luger chases at the bell, but gets suckered coming in, and Tatanka hammers. Lex no-sells and clotheslines him out of the ring for manager Ted DiBiase to console, and it's stall time. Luger gets sick of it and chases, but Tatanka evades, and continues to stall on the floor. Tatanka eventually manages a sneak attack and goes to work with some chops, but Lex no-sells him again in the corner, and reverses a turnbuckle smash, then unloads a ten-punch. Tatanka tries an inverted atomic drop, but gets clotheslined, as the fake crowd noise kicks up to another level. I mean, WOW. Luger gets overzealous and tossed out of the ring (complete with a really cool camera angle from beneath, that makes the bump seem far crazier than it actually was), and Tatanka pounds him out there. Inside, Tatanka knife edges him for two, as Vince apologizes that a commercial break is coming. No Vince, it's okay. Really. Tatanka keeps pounding him with some ultra exciting (and super plodding) chops, then uses a pair of corner whips to setup a bearhug. Yeah, because an even slower pace is JUST what this match needs. No wonder the blowoff for this got scrapped from WrestleMania XI. Luger escapes with a side suplex, but is too worn to capitalize, so Tatanka chops him some more. Lex finally remembers he can no-sell those again, and tries a sleeper, but Tatanka quickly falls back into the corner to break. Luger sells it like he's been shot to allow Tatanka to go out to the floor and attack Chief Jay Strongbow, but the Chief chops him back, and Lex rolls out to clothesline him. Back in, Lex unloads with a kneelift and a bulldog, followed by a series of clotheslines to put Tatanka right back on the outside again. Tatanka decides to walk, but Luger drags him back in for a powerslam. He takes too long going for the Rebel Rack, however, and Tatanka bails again. Lex drags him in again with a suplex, and turnbuckles smashes him into oblivion, so DiBiase distracts him, and Tatanka escapes again - this time managing to get himself counted out at 17:30, in a finish that set up the cage match blowoff the week before WrestleMania. Decent match, but way too long (it was a nine minute match stretched far too thin), especially given what Tatanka brought to the table offense-wise. One of the reasons the guy was so ineffective as a heel was that he never really expanded his move set to include actual offense, but instead used the stuff he relied on for babyface comebacks, and just stretched it to a breaking point. A flurry of chops is fine when making a comeback, but as a heel, it was super dull. *

On Superstars over the weekend, Jerry Lawler tried his old 'hop on one foot' trick during a battle royal, but Bret Hart put a stop to it by stomping on his foot. Possibly (I'm not sure, and there's no way I'm watching King of the Ring '95 again to find out) the very foot he would later shove into Lawler's mouth during the blowoff! Foreshadowing! Vincent K. Hemingway, ladies and gentlemen!

Owen Hart v Larry Santo: Santo is actually a big guy (a head taller than Owen), and considering how thin and shitty the roster was at this point, I'm surprised they didn't slap some stupid plumber or garbage man gimmick on him, and give that a try. Not like the guys they did give those gimmicks to were any better, look wise. He's kind of shitty in the ring (his timing is way off), but again, was the guy playing Mantaur any better? Owen with the Sharpshooter at 3:45. DUD

Vince and Jim host a showdown (via political talk show-style split screen) between Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. Vince as Bill O'Reilly isn't that much of a stretch, really, though Cornette is not exactly Megyn Kelly. The segment drags on and on and on as they milk having Taylor on screen for as long as possible, but nothing is really said. Just like real political talk shows then, I guess

Doink v Bob Cook: Were they still pushing Doink into 1995? I honestly can't remember him doing anything notable past the Lawler feud at the end of '94, and I'm surprised they're still wasting a squash on him. Really dull one, too, as the clown armbars him to death before finishing with the Whoopee Cushion at 3:00. Squashes are fine, but squashes for guys who aren't in programs/being built up are a waste of everyone’s time. See, like, the Owen squash was well booked, because it gave the announcers a chance to remind the audience that Hart is in the hunt for a new tag partner. What was the point of seeing Doink? DUD

On Superstars over the weekend, Davey Boy Smith eliminated Shawn Michaels on his way to winning a battle royal, and next week, they meet one-on-one. Man, they really got a lot of mileage out of that battle royal, didn't they?

Kama v Ken Raper: Really? Raper? Even my spell-check objects to that one. I guess they already had a reaper and a rapper on the payroll, and poor Ken drew the short straw. But at least it's a squash for a guy worth giving one too. It's also worth the price of admission just to hear Vince deliver gems about Raper trying to hold a man down. 1995 was an interesting time. Kama with an STF at 3:32 - Raper 'wasting no time in submission' according to McMahon. DUD

Davey Boy Smith offers some thoughts on his match with Shawn Michaels for next week - AKA later in this taping

Todd Pettengill pimps the WrestleMania XI Press Conference set for the following afternoon, where Lawrence Taylor is scheduled to appear. You can smell the mainstream press desperation stink through the TV, as Vince tries to recreate what he had with Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper ten years earlier

BUExperience: Not a very good episode, as the feature match was junk, and the LT segment dragged tremendously.