WWF Monday Night RAW (June 26, 1995)

Original Airdate: June 26, 1995

From Danville, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. Shawn looks really strung out on pills here, or at least I hope so, because there’s no other excuse for that mesh t-shirt that doesn’t involve copious amounts of drugs

Last night at King of the Ring, Jerry Lawler lost the Kiss My Foot Match to Bret Hart, and got his own nasty foot shoved into his mouth. Too bad this wasn't the Attitude Era, so we could see a Kiss My Ass Match, with Lawler spending weeks working on developing a case of swamp ass before the show. Now THAT would put butts in seats. And mouths

Opening Match: The Smoking Gunns v Black Phantom and Jason Arndt: Black Phantom made a friend! There's hope for everyone! Gunns with the Sidewinder on friendly Phantom at 1:30. DUD

Earlier today, Jerry Lawler went to see Isaac Yankem DDS in hopes of washing the taste out of King of the Ring '95 out of his mouth. Some of us are still trying

King of the Ring Encore promo

Back at In Your House, Savio Vega popped out of the crowd to attack Jeff Jarrett - who he faces later on. You know what always bothered me? Aside from the fact that Vega jumped the rail without any consequences, why the hell was a supposed 'Caribbean Legend' hanging around at a wrestling show in Syracuse New York, of all places? That seems kind of random. I could see them running that angle in, say, Miami. But Syracuse?

Barry Didinsky wants you to buy the new King of the Ring commemorative t-shirt! And hat! Only $19! Just think of it as an investment in future therapy

Skip v Scott Taylor: Shawn: 'I know fitness chicks.' He also spends the rest of the match making jokes, as Vince calls Sunny 'Tammy.' You know a gimmick sucks when even Vince can't be bothered to remember it. Energetic stuff from Skipper here tonight, as he hits Scott with a flying splash on the floor, and finishes with a rana off the top rope at 2:10. ¼*

In Oklahoma City over the weekend, Diesel played softball with Tony Danza (or, 'Hollywood All-Stars' in Vince-speak). How can you NOT cheer this guy?! He doesn't just KNOW Tony Danza, he plays SPORTS GAMES with him!! Does Hulk Hogan know Tony Danza? Does Randy Savage know Tony Danza? Exactly

Todd Pettengill recaps King of the Ring. 'I could go on and on' he says. Please don't. He also promises that there will be 'no escaping Big Daddy Cool and Sid next month at In Your House.' It certainly felt that way, yeah

Backstage, Savio Vega prepares for his Intercontinental Title shot against Jeff Jarrett later on

Man Mountain Rock v Phil Apollo: Vince proclaims that 'if he's too loud, you're too old!' Yeah, that must've been it. Rock with the Whammy Bar in a brisk 1:10. Kinda weird how short they always book Rock's squashes, because their big focus is giving him plenty of airtime to play his guitar rather than wrestle. But, remember, if you don't like it, it simply means you're too old! DUD

Mabel v Kenny Kendall: Yeah, so, Mabel's King of the Ring now, and not surprisingly no one is buying it. I'm all for elevating new stars, but literally NOTHING during the build up for King of the Ring made Mabel seem like more than just half of a tag team that hadn't even been relevant in over a year. Nothing. And I realize that they had a thin roster, and I realize that they didn't want to build to Diesel/Shawn Michaels again after WrestleMania wasn't a blockbuster, but come on. Mabel? MABEL? Even his name sounds like a synonym for 'midcard.' Midcard with a belly-to-belly suplex at 2:30. DUD

Waylon Mercy vignette. Who does he mean by 'you people,' exactly?

Over the weekend, the WWF Hall of Fame inducted a new class. This is so low-key compared to today’s versions, though Bill fucking Murray inducts George Steele, which is pretty fucking cool. Fuck!

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Jeff Jarrett v Savio Vega: Roadie distracts Savio for Jeff to attack from behind, but Savio quickly shrugs him off with a hiptoss, and a pair of 2^nd rope axehandles for two. Jeff tries suckering him into the corner, but a cross corner clothesline gets reversed, and Savio bodyslams him to setup some awkward mounted punches. Roadie hops up onto the apron to interfere, but it backfires, and Vega tosses them both out of the ring. Mindful of the count, he follows, but runs into a cheapshot, and Jarrett delivers a swinging neckbreaker on the way back in. Pair of fistdrops and a snap suplex follow for two, with Roadie taking cheapshots at every turn. Straddling ropechoke still misses, however, and Vega side suplexes him, then hits a uranage. Backelbow, so Roadie interferes again, but this time gets shoved into Shawn Michaels' lap as a result. Michaels takes offense (no one calls Roadie 'Big Daddy Cool,' after all), and they get into it on the floor, so Jeff runs out to help, and gets beat up by Shawn! That allows Savio a rollup for two, so Roadie takes a more direct approach, and runs in for the disqualification at 7:30. And, of course, Shawn then runs in for the save to setup his IC title match with Jarrett at In Your House. Decent match, but Vega looked like a total choker after failing at King of the Ring, then failing here the next night. I get that Vince wanted to make Lex Luger the next Hulk Hogan in 1993, but did he really need to try making someone into the new Lex Luger? *

BUExperience: Come for Barry Didinsky! Stay for Isaac Yankem!