WWF Monday Night RAW (May 1, 1995)

Original Airdate: May 1, 1995 (Taped April 24)

From Omaha, Nebraska; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Opening Match: The Allied Powers v George Anderson and Ron Hagan: Allied Powers! Talk about a team that should have been so, so much more. I mean, both guys were big enough stars on their own, but were essentially doing nothing in the spring of 1995. Teaming them was a good idea and a good fit, but sadly the results were so lackluster that Luger basically ended up escaping to WCW to get away from it. Still a cool idea, though. Davey Boy finished Robert Duvall's brother with the Running Powerslam at 2:41. DUD

Yesterday on the Action Zone, Bob Holly pinned Jeff Jarrett to win the Intercontinental Title, but since Jarrett's foot was on the ropes, WWF President Jack Tunney decides to overturn the referees decision, and hold up the title pending a rematch the next week. I LOVED this angle as a kid. Such a simple, easy way to add intrigue, and build to a rematch. Unfortunately, Holly was such a DUD that the crowd didn't even pop when he 'won' the title. Still a good idea in theory, though

Bob Holly v Butler Stevens: Butler apparently threatens to milk Holly before the match, if those hand gestures are any indication. Maybe he should try that when he wrestles Henry Godwinn instead. This jobber really sucks, too, as he's clearly green as all hell, and looks like a total amateur while taking all of Holly's stuff. Bob with a flying bodypress at 2:48. I get why this was here, but this jobber was embarrassing to watch. DUD, bordering negative stars

In Your House Report! If you actually ordered this show as a Mothers Day gift, like Todd suggests (or, rather, desperately pleas, along with assurances that you'll 'never regret it'), you are a shitty, shitty kid

Mantaur v Sonny Rogers: What's fucking Mantaur doing this far away from Superstars? Apparently squashing Sonny Rogers with a sloppy press-slam at 2:25. That'll put butts in seats! DUD

In what I can only assume was a WrestleMania XI segment left on the cutting room floor, Nicholas Turturro (of NYPD Blue) brings Man Mountain Rock in on fraud charges. 'I don't like it when a punk rocker tries to pass himself off as a professional wrestler!' Interestingly, it was the exact opposite problem. Also, Rock should really get a lawyer, because I'm pretty sure an actor impersonating a police officer and making arrests is a far more serious crime

Sid v Razor Ramon: Never happens, as Sid jumps through Razor's pre-match pyro wall, and clobbers him to setup a Powerbomb. Diesel saves, of course. No match, but that was a hell of a neat visual - one I totally recreated dozens of time that summer with a sprinkler standing in for the pyro. Also, considering Luger and Bulldogs pyro actually started a small fire earlier in the night, that was ballsy of Sid

Adam Bomb v Dave Sigfrid: No feature match, so hey, how about another helping of squash? Sigfrid looks like a weird cross between Jake Roberts and Brutus Beefcake, but beefier. I guess maybe the roster was so thin, they hoped channel surfers would get confused? Bomb with a flying clothesline at 3:41. Good pop for Bomb, but then, he was openly bribing fans with Nerf balls, so it doesn't count. ¼*

Backstage, Razor Ramon has a headache from the earlier attack, but luckily Diesel is there to kiss the boo-boo

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vignette. Yeah, like this guy'll get over...

Men on a Mission v Bill Duke and Kevin Krueger: I'm surprised, given where they wanted to go with Mabel, that they're still bothering with MOM tag matches, instead of just going all in and having him do singles squashes. Mabel with a belly-to-belly suplex at 4:37. Long and boring, but the one black guy in the crowd got totally into it. DUD

Bret Hart (drawing the only real pop of the whole show) comes down to confront Jerry Lawler, and challenge him to a match at In Your House. I know it's already been well documented, but my God was Bret misused during this period. But then, does HE have a random black fan who likes to dance during his matches? Exactly

BUExperience: With the only feature match resulting in a bait-and-switch, all that’s left is a long parade of squashes. One of the worst episodes in a while.