WWF Monday Night RAW (September 18, 1995)

Original Airdate: September 18, 1995 (Taped August 28)

From Canton, Ohio; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

We start with a look back at last week, with Dean Douglas interfering in the Razor Ramon/Davey Boy Smith match, and 1-2-3 Kid's challenge to Ramon afterwards

Razor Ramon v 1-2-3 Kid: Kid attacks before the bell, and goes to work with lightning kicks. Spinkick puts Razor on the outside, and the Bad Guy is not happy. Back in, Kid tries a bodypress, but Razor catches him, and delivers a 2^nd rope fallaway slam for two. Razor goes to work with chops in the corner, and Kid ends up on the floor following a hiptoss. Back in, Razor works a wristlock, and chokeslams Kid for two, but misses a charge, and gets tossed over the top. Kid stays on him with a slingshot dropkick, then blasts him with a spinheel kick on the way back in, but Razor's in the ropes, so no count. Sleeper puts Ramon down, but he catches a second wind, and escapes with a side suplex that leaves both men down. Razor manages to crawl over and get a two count out of it, and wins the resulting slugfest to setup a cross corner clothesline. Criss cross ends in the referee getting bumped, however, and Dean Douglas runs in - hitting Ramon with a flying splash for Kid to pin at 7:08. Crowd was totally expecting a last minute kickout there. This was okay. Nothing terribly exciting, but watchable, and added some more heat to the Ramon/Douglas match for the PPV. *

Backstage, Dean Douglas - wearing a different outfit than he was just 'moments ago' - gloats

On Superstars over the weekend, Henry Godwinn slopped Ted DiBiase again

Tatanka and Kama v Savio Vega and Bob Holly: Dig the big star/star match! Take THAT, Nitro. Also, Savio dances better than that fucking Nazi Alex Wright, so THERE! He starts with Tatanka, and unloads dropkicks, then leans house on Kama when he comes in illegally. Both men tag, and Holly uses his speed to pepper Kama a bit, then armdrags him down into an armbar. Back to Savio, but he quickly gets caught in the heel corner, and the Corporation cut the ring in half. Vega evades Kama long enough to get the tag, and Holly comes in hot, but Kama manages to roll through a flying bodypress for the pin at 5:47. Nothing to see here. ½*

Backstage, Razor Ramon promises revenge on Dean Douglas at In Your House. No word on whether that'll include putting on clothes, however

WrestleMania XI: The Special promo

Jean Pierre Lafitte v Brian Walsh: Lafitte has Bret Hart's leather jacket with him, to setup their showdown at In Your House. Riveting. I mean, the Dungeon of Doom was stupid, yes, but at least they weren't stealing Hulk Hogan's bandana as the basis for their feuding. No, those fuckers shaved his mustache! Bret Hart calls in to try and add some heat to this DUD of a feud, to no avail. Lafitte with the Cannonball at 3:18. ¼*

In Your House promo

Owen Hart and Yokozuna v Men on a Mission: Owen and Yoko are the tag champs at this point, but this is non-title. Sadly, 3/4 of these guys are no longer with us, less than twenty years later. Owen starts with Mo, and a slugfest goes Mo's way. He pops Hart with a backelbow, and adds a powerslam ahead of tagging big Mabel in. He goes after Owen with a hairslam, but an avalanche misses, and Hart tries a ten-punch, but gets shoved off, and MOM cut the ring in half. Mo manages to lose a criss cross and get launched over the top to allow the tag to Yokozuna, and now the tag champs cut the ring in half. You know, if nothing else, this match illustrates that Owen and Yoko would have actually been a really good fit as a babyface team. Owen could work the bulk of the match getting the shit kicked out of him, and then Yoko would only have to come in for short bursts at the end. Plus, no nerveholds! I get why they didn't go that route, but it could have worked. Owen and Mo end up in a double-knockout when both guys try spinheel kicks, and tags are made to Yokozuna and Mabel - giving us the showdown that this whole match was booked for. MOM double-up on Yoko to force a tag back, and Owen takes a superplex from Mo for two. Yoko comes in illegally to stop that effort, however, and big legdrop kills Mo at 9:30. Good effort, with a fun heel/heel dynamic - though the crowd was wholeheartedly on Owen and Yoko's side. *

Backstage, Diesel and Shawn Michaels hype the Triple Header main event for In Your House

More In Your House hype, as Vince hops into the ring for words with the tag champs, as Yokozuna does his best Chumlee impression. Hey, if you ever need to hard sell a show, you could do a lot worse than Jim Cornette with a side of Chumlee

BUExperience: What? No Barry Didinsky this week? Fuck it, Nitro should have killed them! Interestingly, after being neck-and-neck last week, Nitro couldn’t hold on to their audience this time, drastically dropping in the ratings, and RAW actually even catching a bump. Not that this episode deserved it, but it just goes to show that RAW certainly had a much bigger established audience, while Nitro would have to cultivate theirs.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	9/18/1995
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.7	1.9